Celebration of light, Part I
Each year, the City of Vancouver, BC, hosts a spectacular fireworks contest. It used to be called Symphony of Fire and was sponsored by a tobacco company. That is obviously not politically correct in this postmodern age and the ever-polite Canadians accepted this with good grace. It is now called Celebration of Light and is sponsored by a bank.
Having done business in Canada, I have to question whether that nation's banks are any less odious that the pushers of nicotine. But that's another story. The contest is held on four Wednesdays and Saturdays in August. Three nations compete individually, then they combine forces for a grand finale on the last night.
This year, China, Spain and Sweden were the invited guests. You would think that China, having invented fireworks, would win in a walk. Much to everyone's surprise, Sweden took top honors this year with a truly creative display. Reiko and I always attend, although I rarely make all of the shows. I got to see Sweden's effort and have no quarrel with the judges.
We were fortunate enough to have the best seat in the house for the grand finale. Jim Grutzke is a native German who came to Whistler 27 years ago when it wasn't even a narrow spot in the road. Over the years, this entrepreneurial visionary established a number of retail businesses, along with Haus Heidi (www.hausheidi.com ) one of the resort's premier pensions.
By the time I arrived in Whistler in 1997, Jim owned a very successful sportswear shop called Alpine International. It happened to be right across from my art gallery. Jim was extraordinarily helpful to me as I was creating Northern Lights Gallery. He also employed a stunning Japanese woman named Reiko who became the love of my life after an extended flirtation across the hallway.
Jim is, in polite Canadian terms, financially secure. He recently bought a condo on the 27th floor of a Vancouver building overlooking English Bay, where the fireworks take place. The 28th floor is the rooftop. You knew I'd get to the point eventually, didn't you?
Jim invited us to view the finale from that rooftop. As I said, it is the best seat in the house. I took a lot of photos of that penultimate explosion and will be posting them over the next couple of weeks. Some of them, I left alone. But fireworks photos lend themselves to being tampered with in PhotoPaint. The best way to deal with such temptation, I have found, is to give in. Enjoy.
Now, I'm going to enjoy another fireworks show. It's just about cool enough that I can plant myself in the hot tub and enjoy the Perseid meteor shower. Care to join me?
11:05:31 PM 
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