Sitting On a Bench Blog
1. I went to a little island connected to Victoria Park and found a bench just sitting there all alone with nothing surrounding it in the middle of the road by St. David’s Avenue and Keith Road. It was brown of course and quite an old bench. It had cracks in the wood where you would sit. I chose it because it was in a some what quiet area and it would be a place to have some time to your self and look at the beautiful scenery. There weren’t any other benches around so nobody could come walking up and sit in front of you, behind you, or to the side of you because there was only one single bench there with a few trees around it.
2. From sitting on this bench in the middle of the road on an island connected to Victoria Park, I see Downtown Vancouver and even the sun rise and sun set if you sit there long enough and of course a bunch of cars going in every direction you look. When I’m sitting on the bench I feel the nice cool breeze on a winters day and even the same breeze when it’s in the spring, summer or even fall, and it’s the kind of breeze that is just cooling and doesn’t give you the shivers up your spine. Just the right coolness breeze to satisfy you. I really happy and feeling that no one else is on this planet but me because all I see it the scenery and cars going by and no people what so ever. When sitting on the bench. I’m thinking about completely nothing. I’m just zoned out on the things around me and just enjoying myself for the time being. Sitting on the bench, I want nothing but happiness for the rest of the day or even the rest of my life and want nothing to go wrong for the life that I’m willing to live with fun and joy.
3. If a bench was to be dedicated to me, I would want it at the park I used to play at all the time when I was a baby and a little girl, and which I still go to sometimes to take my neighbours kids to as well. It’s a quiet place and it’s surrounded by grass and trees and overlooks over Downtown Vancouver and the sun rise and sun set too. I would also make sure every time I went and visited my bench or even the playground, I would make sure that there was no graffiti or damage done to my bench, and that it was the perfect bench in the park. I would want nothing to happen to my bench because if something did happen, such as someone destroyed it and ripped it to parts because they hate my guts, I would be extremely upset because that bench also shows how much the park meant to me by me going there for 17 years of my life straight, and hopefully for the rest of my life. It would kill me inside to see something bad happening to my bench. For the Inscription; I would like it to say “Janelle Nicole Hoy. Number One Visitor at This Park from 1993 until 2011. And Will Always Be Number One until She Dies”
4 If I was to dedicate a bench to someone, it would have to be my boyfriend Reid Spencer and my best friend Sarah La’Croix. I would want the bench at Bridgman Park by the Playground because that’s where we first met and it’s a place I will never forget going to with or without him. It was my second most favourite park I liked to also go to when I was little and I thought it would be a great place to meet him and hangout for the first 3 months of our relationship because there were a lot of things to do around there instead of sitting around at him doing nothing. It’s also a park where Sarah and I met as well. I find that it is quite a popular park to have met my boyfriend and my best friend there about a year or so apart and I am quite happy that I did meet them because they both play the best parts in my life and I want nothing to happen to that. For the Inscription; I would have to say, “Reid Spencer && Sarah La’Croix, The best people I’ve ever had in my life and would want nothing to happen to what relationships I have going on with the both of them. Love You lots, xx—Jell-O”.
5. It was a bright and sunny when I mentioned to Reid that we should go for a walk at Victoria Park. I had also explained to him about my Bench Blog assignment to him and he said “well, let’s go find a bench”. I smiled at him and said “okay”. When we got to Victoria Park we found this little island by Saint David’s on Keith Road and said.. “How about this bench?” “It’s perfect!” I had said. We sat there for a good three hours looking at the view over the Pacific Ocean over to Downtown Vancouver and thought it was absolutely incredible and thought that this was a great place for a bench to sitting. I also thought in my mind that I’ve never seen anyone in my life sit here before and thought “why doesn’t anyone ever sit here and look at Downtown Vancouver and have some time to them selves? It’s such a nice and quiet place”. We didn’t really want to leave because it was such a nice area. We decided to leave just as it got dark, which was in an hour or so. By the time it got a little bit dark, the view looked more stunning then it did in the daylight. All the buildings lit up in the night sky just made this bench a thousand times better then it was in daylight. We finally left and we promised each other that we would come back and sit on this bench more often and just sit there and look at the view and suck up the sun and just have a relaxing day sitting on the bench in the middle of the road on an island near Saint David’s and Keith Road. The next weekend we came back on a Sunday afternoon and sat on the bench and did exactly what we did the Sunday before when we discovered the bench.
6. The poem I chose to describe my bench is called “The Bench” By: Nancy Ellen Crossland. I chose this poem because it can represent a place where mothers tie up their toddlers loose lace, kiss scraped knees or even wiping a face. Hundreds have passed by and also may to rest. It’s also a plain old bench that is weathered. Its where love can be found or even lost, even hearts can be mended on a bench when your just sitting there alone and some guy randomly comes up and starts talking to you and after a few days, things have a possibility of connecting with you and that guy or you and that girl. The bench could be so old that it could have so much history to it that I don’t even know about. The bench could be over 100 years old and be in as nice of a shape as it is now.
The Bench
By: Nancy Ellen Crossland
Under a Maple tree near the city park entrance,
sits a nondescript, weathered, plain old bench,
Hundreds have passed by and many to rest
Like mothers with toddlers tying up a loose lace,
Kissing scraped knees or wiping a face,
That old bench is a meeting place Tuesdays
for widows Mildred and Grace,
Who chat over lunch that they take turns to make,
discussing TV shows, world events,
pains and aches,
Then there are old Army pals Walter and Ray, who meet on Thursdays,
Checkers they'll play,
while reminiscing about those former glory days
Who would know a simple bench with such a history
of events?
A place where love began or love has ended,
Then again sometimes where hearts are mended,
But to most it will only be
An old bench near the city park entrance
7. My poem connects to my personal philosophy of life by that benches can hold very special memories of many things in a person’s life. The good memories and the bad memories. The good ones are the most special memories of your life and will be with you for ever. Even if a bench is dedicated to you or dedicating one to someone in your life would be a very special something to never forget. They may only be a place to sit made out of wood, but it is a place to sit made out of wood that can be very special to many people in the world.
8. The purpose of a park is for people to have fun in the summer and to enjoy the sun. For example, Stanley Park is one of Vancouver’s best places to go to because everyone can enjoy swimming in a pool there called second beach or even in the ocean. They can walk on the sea wall and through the trail that goes through the park where all the benches are. Parks are for kids to play at when there is a playground there. They should get some out of going to parks with their family too. Some parks only for displaying things what have been there for thousand of years such as totem poles or how people lived back in the day with out having the things that we do now, which are called National Parks. Also, some parks can be very important to some cities because they play a big role in the city and they have very old and interesting things that sit in that park, or if they have been around for a certain amount of time they get more and more popular and valuable every year to lots of people.
My thoughts on parks are that they should play an important role in a child’s life and an adult’s life because for a child, they have the ability to have some fun out of going to a park or the parents take them to a park just to play for an hour and get tired out. They deserve to have fun all they can in their childhood life. On the other had, for the adults, parks are just as important because about 90 percent of adults like to go to parks where ever they live to go for a walk in the forest scenery or the sea wall or even just sit on a bench in the park admiring Vancouver or anywhere. Parks are also a great place to take your dogs for walks. Dogs need an area to play and have their owner throw a ball for them or even a stick. It’s a place where they can swim as well, if there is a creek near by or if it’s near the ocean. They need to get out and have fun instead of being cooped up all day in a some what small yard and having no freedom. Everyone and every living thing deserves to have freedom and fun when they are young and when they are old. It’s mostly what they need in their life is to get out and out there to see what the world has for them
9.
Life in Vancouver
Living in the city of North Vancouver
is the best place to be.
When sitting on a bench,
there’s a lot in front of you that you can see.
In the city of North Vancouver,
you will find your favourite love.
Wandering around the grounds,
you will find a bird and know it’s a dove.
Watching the sun rise and sun set,
just sitting there enjoying the day.
The beautiful sky will look like a threat,
because you will think you’re wasting your life away.
At the end of the day, it’s time to go home.
With all those hours spent on a bench in the sun.
You don’t want to go home, just want to go and roam,
he asks you to come and sit a little more, but you want to play a game and run.
