Showing posts with label tragedy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tragedy. Show all posts

Friday, September 16, 2011

Tragedy on the Sea Wall

Inspired by Cyberdave's Vancouver Sketches, I headed to the Seawall a few days ago to sketch.  Yogi and I have been running along this route every morning lately.  It's absolutely stunning, littered with great sketching spots.

The day after I sketched this, we headed out for our run.  7am.  We had the seawall almost to ourselves to ourselves.  I saw a paddle boarder drifting along slowly, fairly close to the wall. Then I noticed a Coast Guard vessel, also drifting slowly in toward the wall.  As the two of them converged on a point, my consciousness snapped into focus and I realized what I was looking at.  The paddler had spotted a body, and was leading the Coast Guard ship in for pick up.  Yogi and I stood.  It felt dismissive to turn our backs and walk away, and wrong to stand and stare.  We drifted awkwardly together with the couple of other people on the wall, all of us holding our hearts and shaking our heads as a woman was pulled up onto the boat.  Nothing has appeared in the news.  So sad.  I'm carrying a thought for her, whoever she was, with me today.