sakura fest without the sakuras

it was that time of year again. the sakura festival at vandusen botanical gardens but with hardly any cherry blossoms. our winter was long and wet and as a result, the first cherry blossoms were rather disappointingly paltry and sparse. however, there were many other blooms to appreciate.

then something neither sean nor i ever saw at van dusen before. from across the lagoon, a bale of turtles just sunning themselves. we went around and had climbed down so that we could see them up close. it's not like i've never seen a turtle before. i used to have one as a pet. a small little turtle that i called puck. but puck never got as big because of the small hexagonal tank i had him in. these turtles are pretty big and hardly cared that we were there.

and then of course our visit is not complete without saying hello to our beloved minotaur, who still to this day, is missing his companion, the hare.

i wish vancouver winters wouldn't be so long or so inconsistent. hot and sunny some days, cold and damp the other days. it really does bork up cherry blossom trees.