300 trees, mostly those on the Legislature's northern grounds, are decked out with lights and a 60-foot tall white spruce has been brought in from Edson to be the grand centrepiece. Though each tree is lighted in only one colour, the hundreds of trees together create an enchanting array -- made extra picturesque by the surrounding snow. In addition to the natural trees, a number of cut trees are decorated in the snow-filled reflecting pool area in front of the Legislature's entrance.
The vast park-like grounds south of the Legislature feature fewer lighted trees, but are a popular destination nonetheless for the outdoor skating rink. Open until 10 pm daily with an adjacent heated trailer offering hot chocolate, this is one of the city's free outdoor skating rinks (and the first one to be open this year!). Even at 9 pm there were a handful of people out enjoying a skate.
The south Legislature grounds also offer a great view of the High Level Bridge, lighted tonight in flashing orange and blue in recognition of the Oilers' home game.
Though the lights, skating rink, and bridge were all impressive, the best sight was sitting right in the middle of the path to the parking lot: a snowshoe hare, in pure white camouflage (and this time I did get a photo before it absconded). These hares are more than twice the size of UVic's famous (former) rabbits and fascinatingly change from brown to white for the winter. It'll take a while before I get over the urge to whip out my phone camera whenever I see one.
Camouflaged! Can you spot it? |
full moon |
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