Spring Break

There are a few things going on with the VK family now that it is spring break.

Someone said it started raining in October and it hasn't stopped here in Chilliwack. It has been a wet, dark winter for us so we decided to pack up and head for LA! After working on Monday, we'll head out on Tuesday and drive south, searching for the sun. Levi and I have been fixing the dings on the surf boards and we are all getting excited about see our old friends - including the beach and sun.

The Chilliwack Bruins continue their successful inaugural season by making it into the playoffs. It's been an up and down year for them, but they have worked hard and are now going to the dance. It starts next week and they will be facing the Giants. They beat the Kamloops Blazers last night 5-0. And tonight, for the last game of the regular season, they will face the Giants. Should be a little preview of what the playoffs will be like. Then following the game there will be the team's award ceremony.

Homeless Community

When I used to live in Bellflower, I'd walk to work. Along the way were usually some homeless friends just waking up or enjoying a liquid breakfast. Bellflower is about 1/2 drive from downtown LA. Since moving away, I try keep up with the homeless situation in LA through LA Homeless Blog. A recent post shows us some links:

Eric, from http://blogdowntown.com/, tells us that the “Downtown Los Angeles Homeless Map” has been updated. It looks like a heat map and shows the concentration of homelessness in the downtown area from November 1, 2006 to today.

This map “takes raw data about those sleeping on the streets and transforms it into a visual tool for understanding the situation.”

Two things come to mind after seeing the migration:

1. The concentration of homelessness in a geographic area is always in a state of movement. It is quite vivid in this graphic map. In downtown’s case, it could be “blamed” on police activity, or simply part of the natural mode of homelessness.

2. It appears that homelessness in downtown is getting smaller. The question is why? Is it because the police activity is pushing people out of downtown, or because more people are accessing services and housing?

I’ve been called a couple of times by the Los Angeles Times. They are trying to get empirical data that the downtown police activities are resulting into spreading homelessness throughout the county. Perhaps this map might at least show the fact that homelessness is decreasing in downtown.

California Warmth

It's about the 3rd consecutive week of grey skies, rain and cold here in Chilliwack.

The first few days were okay, but after a prolonged time of no sun, it begins to get to me. Although I'm getting used to it, I do miss the California weather. I don't know why, but this week has been especially difficult. Maybe because the Bruins are on Christmas break.

There is a great photo site that has some warming pictures of the Santa Cruz area. Here is one of my favorites. If I look at it long enough, that could be me standing there taking in the view of that nicely shaped point break wave held together from the off shore breeze.