Fernwood Square
This is the ‘shortest’ stroll in that you can sit and look more than walk.
The best way to reach Fernwood Square if you are driving is to come along Chambers Street and park on Gladstone. Now walk along Gladstone toward Fernwood.
The Fernwood Community Centre (FCC) is on your left where all ages can participate in numerous different programs; behind in Stevenson Park many community events take place from art shows to barbeques, music festivals, sports events, displays, dousing demonstrations, craft fairs etc.
There is a playground adjacent to the park and the ‘soft ground’ of it intrigues me. The strip of ‘wild’ (which means the mowers leave it untouched) between the playground and the fence is soothing and in the spring I come here to gather lilacs.
Back on Gladstone; you’ll see the side and back of Vic High on your right and, once you are past the school, glance back and then stop and look and decide if you want to check up close the wall allowed for graffiti artists that is behind the bleachers of the track/field. I always do. It’s always worthwhile.
*It’s gone. Sigh.
Again on Gladstone; on the left is a house with a blue fence. Run your fingers gently along the leaves of the trees that are along the fence that look like sumac but which will release the burned popcorn smell which distinguishes them as Tree of heaven (ailanthus altissima). The trees are city friendly – some people think overly so!
Ahead of you is Fernwood Square rather dominated by the Belfry Theatre which was ‘fixed up’ a few years ago. I love the colors – Dijon mustard and avocado fruit, eggplant (or aubergine in paint chip lingo) and avocado rind. All these in a thoughtful and pleasant mixture.
The pierced metal Belfry Theatre sign with appropriate stars adds hugely to the overall dramatic effect of the Square because it wasn’t necessary, to this extent.
The benches in the Square are okay, comfort-wise, and once I was confused and then amused by two men seated on the bench next to me who seemed a bit repetitive in their conversation. It finally occurred to me (and I must admit this was not until I got home!) that they were thespians rehearsing lines for a Belfry performance. At the time I just assumed they were ‘characters’ of the sort to whom the world is a stage.
The gazebo is pleasant to look upon as well as functional: it is the scene for flea markets and other events. Today there is a water bowl inside it for dogs, or cats, I guess.
A few loud retorts startle me just now: someone is gun-stapling a notice to the bulletin board beside the gazebo.
I decide to mosey on over…
Wow. A plethora of notices.
1981 VW Rabbit convertible for sale $3800.
Food Not Bombs. Free Food. We Need You…..
Yard Sale – Pack Rats Clean Their Clutter
Drummer Wanted
YOUR NEXT at The Ministry of Casual Living
Missin’ Kitten
Guitar Lessons
Free Fernwood Outdoor Movies
Gardener for Hire
Shared Accommodation Female Preferred
Corporate Jester
Stilts For Sale, one meter tall, aluminum with wood base, handmade
Computer Repairs and Advice
Dishwasher and Deep Freeze to Good Home
Marimba Building Workshop
Suite to Share where Respect and Sense of Boundary and Independence are valued.
Growing Schools Volunteer Opportunity
I knew I would not be disappointed! Back now onto the bench facing away from the Belfry. Today I don’t need the shade of the oak tree but its green is cheering. Look to the left and catch sight of a palm tree that looks summer weary. Maybe it’s in a sudden disapproval of the two chairs and futon that someone has dumped (albeit neatly!) in a pile across the street from the tree.
This being a holiday (Labor Day) the Square is quiet and mostly empty. One man does walk by muttering, mournfully, “Everything’s closed. Everything’s closed!”
With no people to distract I have the chance to look at the signage on the shops. RENNIE and Taylor Butternut Bread. I could do some research and find out what this refers to, I suppose. But I likely won’t. If you do and it is interesting – then let me know. I am more interested in how it contrasts and complements what is here right now.
What is here right here and right now is The Book Shop. A painting of a woman’s face has been hung in the doorway and is staring at me. I wiggle my fingers at ‘her’ in acknowledgment and greeting. There are many books and many paintings in the little shop which is accessed down some stairs. Neat.
Next door is Toonie Tacos. Tasty. I speak from experience.
Black Sun Tattoo is next – the door is open today on the holiday but the only sound coming out is a bumpy music and not the usual sound of business. Hard to describe a ‘tattoo’ing’ sound, but there you are.
Dial A Geek. VARCS. Studio 1284 Hair Studio. The Gothic AE Piercing Salon. Story Theatre Co. The Thin Edge of the Wedge Pizzeria and Café (the refried bean pizza is my favorite).
Next door is Dr. Bill Hunter who has been a (my!) dentist here with his ‘family’ of staff for a satisfyingly long time, fifteen years or so. The hanging sign over the door is the distinctive silhouette of Roche de Boule, a mountain near Hazelton, the site of his former practice and a gift from his staff. An outdoorsman and photographer, the large photos that appear on the ceiling above one of the dental chairs are of the wilderness areas he loves.
Next to this is She Said Gallery, art by local women, a dynamic and creative place. If Sue Mulholland, the owner and herself an artist, is on site the energy is tripled!
*Sue started a summer market in the Square in 2005 which was very successful and is expected to return next year. She is a dynamo.
It suddenly occurs to me to check out the date on the Pack Rats Garage Sale. Yikes! It is today! My bike tires quiver and we scoot to investigate. ‘Winsome work’ will have to wait.
* * *
Next Day: The kids are back in school but you wouldn’t know it from the Square at 9 a.m. Maybe it’s late opening for the first day of school at Vic High. Oh – wait – a foursome of students just sauntered by wearing enough clothes amongst them to clothe one person completely. This is not a critical statement, just an observation. And a focus, perhaps, as always, not precisely on what people do as how they do it. These four seem at ease with their dress (or lack of it) and this, of course, affects how they are viewed. I applaud them.
But to continue the journey from yesterday. I’ll get to the serious stone barricade at the edge of the Square on Fernwood in a moment but first I must recount the garage sale adventure, the Pack Rats. (Oh – another tangent – I am seated in the middle of one of the green metal benches and on the seat next to me is a pair of running shoes; I’ll let you know if someone claims them).
The garage sale was splendid; I spent ages there as one can and does when the people are friendly and the offerings interesting and more ‘stuff’ keeps being brought out and some of the other browsers are garage sale acquaintances in a chatty mood.
There is a whole, fascinating society around garage sales, largely undocumented, I think. Enlighten me if any observations exist, please; serious consideration, I mean, not the lightweight stories that appear in newspapers each spring.
I purchased a few items – an almost full box of staples for my staple gun, an old glass juicer with a small chip that I decided to put in the garden with bird seed. (The birds avoided it as it was too new to trust but a raccoon made a fuss around it; eventually it got turned into a moss garden and sat on the picnic table on the deck.)
(Tangent – remember I am still seated in Fernwood Square reminiscing about the garage sale – someone in a hooded sweatshirt has a remote control car and is ‘driving’ it around the Square. The noise puzzles me until I locate the source. The gender of the ‘driver’ continues to puzzle me.)
As I was leaving the garage sale (this was the day before) a man arrived and I thought he looked like the person who had been singing at a Classic Car Festival, outdoors, in front of the bank in Oak Bay Village on a recent hot summer afternoon, singing oldies in the company of oldies. I asked if it had been him and it had. I am glad I did not use the word ‘impersonator’ in my query. He isn’t. He told me he began to look like Elvis when he became Elvis. Somehow I know what he meant.
And of all the neighborhoods of Victoria the one where one is most likely to meet ‘Elvis’ at a garage sale is Fernwood.
Now back to the barriers in Fernwood Square which prevent even the most aggressive of car or truck from continuing along Gladstone, westbound, past Fernwood. Okay, so a vehicle would also have to navigate the Square, but you know what I mean. Some barriers positively invite being challenged and conquered. Not these! There are four of them. Serious pillars, not huge but solid, and remind me of chess pieces, for some reason. Pawns. And they are pebble coated, which is very pretty, as is the bus stop beside the Belfry which is where I am heading. Come along.
I’m actually on the steps of the Belfry in the sun. This is less risky than sitting at the bus stop and irritating a bus driver if he stops and I suddenly become aware of the presence of a bus and with embarrassment wave him on.
Across the street is the Fernwood Community Association (FCA) looking chipper in shades of terra cotta. As I raised my arm to shade my eyes from the sun to check the colors the motion alerted me to my reflection in the windows of the FCA and I was startled and then amused to respond to myself seeming to wave to myself.
Just for the fun of it I gave a real wave.
A bus did stop then and unload a passel of students. They were all completely covered. I mean all of them were completely clothed. And it was interesting to note that all were quite substantial in size wearing full outfits of clothing whereas the earlier four with their exposed flesh were quite unpadded. Frivilous fashion. One could speculate on the many aspects of this; on what is presently acceptable in body image and thus put on ‘show’. And why.
But let’s leave off the soc/phil/psych and eye-trot across the street to the sage green building to the left of the FCA. It has been vacant for ages. A few months back some high school students filled the windows with their art and this offset somewhat the ‘empty’ atmosphere.
The mural that erupted (almost overnight, thus my use of that verb!) on the wall helped hugely. Bright and vibrant, depicting village life, endorsing and encouraging community, it is the work of several young artists spearheaded by Harley Smart. It proclaims – Without Art the Crudeness of Reality Would Make the World Unbearable. GBS
Quite a statement of fame to know your initials immediately identify you. George Bernard Shaw. And if someone says to me, “Oh no, Graham Brian Sawyer, a local character, said that,” I’ll be vastly amused!
And who knows – perhaps in time to come we will be able to say of one of those artists who participated in this adventure – “I knew him/her way back when………..”
I can’t help but remember what used to be in the corner space many years ago. A thrift shop. Started by women with Down’s syndrome children. I don’t remember details but I do remember those ladies, most of them getting on in years, and the ‘wealth’ of that store in goods and comraderie. This was before e-bay and ‘boutique’ sections in used clothing stores and we all looked forward to real ‘bargains’. It was quite the neighborhood meeting place. I miss it.
The George and Dragon is – there! Solid and Tudor-looking. A patio. Pub food. I’ve had some nice breakfasts there with a friend after attending Quaker Meeting (so she was a Friend too) while her son (now a teenager) slept peacefully in his stroller.
The shop sheltering under the arm of the G & D has been many things – I seem to recall a video store and a place that sold nice boots and possibly a hair salon – but at the moment it seems to be The Kidney Foundation of Canada, Greater Victoria Volunteer Center. Just so you know.
Standing on its bricked door front and looking back across the street to the right, the block of brick buildings with the black metal fire escapes bears a vague resemblance to sections of the French Quarter in New Orleans. A slight mimicry but it is there. I almost expect to smell Cajun cooking and look forward to a meal of crawdads.
Well, that’s done it. Now I’m hungry. Pizza? Taco? Mango chicken burger?
*The Book Shop has chapter’ed elsewhere and Gladstone Design Studio is now in its place. Around the corner is Joe’s Tattoo Shop which might have been there earlier but I didn’t notice. The Butternut Traditional Chinese Medicine shop is new. As is Freedom Kilts, across the street on the corner where the Kidney Foundation was. And the empty building across from this has been purchased by the FCC and is in the process of being restored. The mural is gone. Sigh.