Review and Exploration: A Perfect Day for a Walk by Bill Arnott
My Quick Take: Spending time with the author on his Vancouver neighbourhood walks was so pleasant. I revisited some of my own memories, learned some new things about my adopted city, and even went for my own “perfect walk.”
Thanks to Arsenal Pulp Press and Zg Reads for a gifted copy!
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I was twenty-two when I moved to Vancouver from my hometown of Victoria BC. My spouse and I came for my schooling, and we never left. I’ve lived in several neighbourhoods, including downtown, Kerrisdale and now Riley Park. Walking, running and biking has taken me all over this city and for the most part, I enjoy this urban landscape that I now call home, on the unceded territory of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh land.
It’s clear that Vancouverite Arnott also values this city, and his enthusiasm is clear in his latest book, A Perfect Day for a Walk. I read this over a couple of weeks, taking my time with each chapter. Arnott has divided his book into neighbourhoods, and as he walks routes around the city he invites us to take a literary walk along with him.
There is a lot to like here. I walked in my mind’s eye along with the author as I revisited many familiar places. Arnott chose to take his walks between October and March with all the wet, cold and snow that those months can bring. It’s October as I write this, and his Kitsilano walk evokes the sights and sounds of fall:
“Over wet grass, pea gravel, and dirt, squirrels hop between maples. Crows rake and flip leaves with their beaks. I see outlines of faces in burls on beech trees. Now I follow side walks through neighbourhood homes, past a bush of plump rosehips and maples in yards. Chickadees and towhees flit in a garden. The scrape rattle grate of a shuffling crow emanates from a house’s eaves.”Indeed, crows play an outsized role in Arnott’s tales, which rings true to the seemingly constant presence of these black, intelligent birds in our city.
It struck me that Arnott’s book is a valuable snapshot of Vancouver neighbourhoods as they are now. Having arrived as a transplant in 1994, it feels like some landmark features have always been here, but Arnott includes some history of various Vancouver sights, and I was reminded of a city’s different eras. Though I feel like it has always been there, Granville Island as we know it is as new as the 1970s, and the Cambie Bridge was built for Expo 86, so recently! Contrast that to more contemporary infrastructure, for which I have my own “before” and “after” mental landscape: the Canada Line and the Olympic Village neighbourhood, and Habitat Island on False Creek.
In addition to the more recent historical stories, Arnott often looks further back at the origins of this place, to the First Nations who called these shores home before colonisation, bringing this full circle with a discussion of the Sen̓áḵw development at the foot of the Burrard Bridge, a Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh initiative. There's also inclusion of histories of many of the diverse communities that have shaped Vancouver. At the end of each chapter, I was absorbed by the pictures that illustrated these histories, many from the City of Vancouver Archives as well as contemporary photos from the author.
I was inspired by the chapters, and I determined to set out to visit some of the places that Arnott reminded me of. I love that the book got me off the couch on a Sunday afternoon as I insisted that my spouse and I get in the car (Yes, the car. But the sights I wanted to visit were a bit too far to walk.) and go explore.
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| Park sign, and my copy of the book! |
First, we made our way to Seaforth Peace Park, at Burrard St and 1st Avenue, at the south end of the Burrard Bridge. I was intrigued, because it’s home to 1986’s The Flame of Peace by sculptor Sam Carter, which commemorates the Hiroshima bombing, and a bust of Kinuko Laskey, a Hiroshima survivor, “...at the south edge of the park, gazing into the distance, to the future, perhaps.” We just visited Hiroshima this April, so a visit was timely. Funny, I knew vaguely that there was a swath of green in that area, but had never stopped, had no idea that this small park held such meaning, and has been the site for many a peace march gathering in the past. As the crows gathered on lampposts and cawed noisily, I contemplated the importance of the park, and its artwork. The Flame of Peace seems to have fallen into disrepair, and we speculated as to why it hasn't been updated or maintained. The park is also home to a monument for the first generation of Latin Americans in the area that has a recipe for seafood soup etched on it and a time capsule buried inside. Who knew?
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| Bust of Kinuko Laskey |
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| Seaforth Peace Park |
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| El Monumento Sopa Sur |
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| Stanley Park Totem Poles, photo by my spouse. |
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| Dusk from the Stanley Park seawall. |
I love that this book inspired me to learn more and explore the city. I still have the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden on my list to revisit after reading the “Gastown, Chinatown, and Downtown Eastside” chapter. This would be a great book for a holiday season gift, and also for tourists or newcomers. I can confidently recommend Bill Arnott’s A Perfect Day for a Walk as an inspiration to learn about various neighbourhoods in Vancouver, and perhaps as an impetus to set out on your own walk!
As a bonus, I was able to visit Book Warehouse Vancouver for Arnott's book signing recently. It was so nice to meet him and have a quick chat while he signed my book and kindly agreed to a photo.
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