Once a Salt Marsh...

... and now, sun-drenched slopes where kids fly their kites. Garry Point Park, the extreme southwest corner of Lulu Island.

The last time I was here, in the 1980s, the city of Richmond had just begun terraforming. The kids and I scrambled over heaps of gravel, piles of logs and tangled driftwood. Inland, dozens of kites flew, buzzing and whistling. Today, there is a gravelled walkway along the shoreline, sandy beaches, monuments (not very interesting ones), a vaguely Japanese "Japanese Garden". And wildflowers, acres of them.

Lupins, blue, purple, pink and red.
A little brown bird flitted from one to another of these, perching on the flower spikes, bending them right over, always too far away to get a clear view.
The red area behind the lupins is mainly red sorrel; I never would have thought of it as a flower, but massed like that, it is quite attractive. Beyond them, Scotch broom, near the end of its blooming season.

Plantain, Plantago. Quite large plants, scattered over the seaward edges.
Along the north end, we came across an old slough, Scotch Pond. A couple of signboards told its history, in brief. And I'll be briefer, still: up to the late 19th century, it was Musqueam Indian territory. In 1899, the Scottish Canadian Cannery took it over. In 1905, the Japanese came in, with Atagi Boatworks. Since then, canneries, mooring, net floats and boatworks have come and gone. Since the late 1980s, it has been a heritage site owned by the City of Richmond.

In the reeds bordering the slough, we found white and yellow irises, probably planted long ago, now gone wild:


And finally, along the pathway, some variety of Malus, apple or crabapple, probably. Fragrant, white and cream, with the slightest tint of pink.

What I will remember most, though, could not be captured by any means yet known: the touch of the breeze from the water, the warmth of the sunshine, the scents -- salt, dust, flowers, and some indefinable "green" fragrance --, the song of birds and the hissing of waves on the sand. I'll just have to leave that to your imagination.