DEBRIS.COMgood for a laugh, or possibly an aneurysm

Pictured is the Starbucks franchise at the corner of Thurlow and Robson in Vancouver, BC… as seen from inside the other Starbucks at the corner of Thurlow and Robson in Vancouver, BC. Yes, there are two Starbucks stores at the same intersection, diagonally opposite one another.

The best thing I can say about this is that both Starbucks had plenty of open seats, whereas the non-chain Italian coffee house at one of the other two corners had a huge crowd and a line waiting for tables.

The worst thing I can say is that I went into Starbucks and took one of those open seats. I ordered an oatmeal cookie and a bottle of root beer, thereby contributing to the decline of cultural diversity as well as to the success of an exported American monopoly. Sigh. At least I didn’t also visit KFC, McDonald’s, Burger King, Quiznos, etc., despite numerous opportunities.

(The truth is, given that there are 112 Starbucks in Vancouver, concentrated in the commercial and tourist areas, the chances of not going into one, at least inadvertently, are lower than you’d think!)

One of the problems of traveling in July is returning home to find that the neighbors have eaten all the plums.

LA’s skyline-signature palm trees are succumbing to old age and disease, and the city can’t afford to replace them. Here’s the story: Palms in Twilight.

“Vegas has priced just about every municipality out of the market,” says George Gonzalez, chief forester for the city of Los Angeles. Demand from casinos has forced prices for Canary Island date palms to $350 to $500 per foot of trunk, never mind craning, trucking and planting. Across the palm market, including installation, a 15-foot Canary Island date palm might cost $7,500, a date palm $3,500, a queen palm $1,500, a Mexican fan palm $1,000. To start with trees of decent size, city tree buyers have been turning to oaks, jacarandas and ficus saplings, with price tags in the hundreds, not thousands.

The Comox Harbour

Private docks near Tofino

Victoria

One of the main tourist attractions of the Victoria area is Butchart Gardens, a former 50-acre gravel pit transformed into a collection of lush gardens by 100 years of obsessive tending. It is a professionally run enterprise; the staff does a fine job of moving cars and crowds through tight spaces.

The most astounding feature of the entire park is the admission price: $21 per person! To see flowers! Here’s my travel tip for everyone visiting Victoria: skip Butchart Gardens. Buy five postcards of the place instead. You and your spouse have just saved $41. Have dinner on me.

We didn’t know how much it would cost until we’d driven a half-hour to get there, so we proceeded with our plan: a picnic lunch followed by a quick tour of the garden’s highlights.

The picnic was not good. We’d bought “wraps” from a cafe in Victoria. Pictured are the remains of my “no cheese” vegetarian wrap; it not only had cheese (cream cheese, in fact, impossible to remove) but about a cup of ranch dressing. It was nasty. So here’s another handy travel tip for Victoria: don’t eat at “Grabba Jabba.” This was our worst meal in seven days.

Just beyond the picnic area was the biggest hedge in the world. I have not consulted the McWhirter brothers (experts on, among many other things, immense shrubbery), but, believe me, it’s that big — about 25 feet tall, with no external supports.

Gratuitous flower closeup. I have no idea what sort of plant this is.

Pictured is the exotic Aquafina Bush. This is an exceptional shot, included not to suggest that the Gardens are poorly mainained. In fact they’re meticulously, even zealously kept. The dirt patches are raked every day, I’m sure. Beds are plucked of dead blooms. Loose petals are collected throughout the day. This bottle can’t have been there for more than a few minutes.

Nearby (but not pictured here) was the equally elusive Aquafina Bottlecap Vine.

My favorite photo from the entire garden shows a post from the bamboo fence in the Japanese Garden. Neat, no?