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I think sometimes people wonder about my hyperactivity and at times I cannot explain it but there are times when it comes into play at the correct time.

Another day of rain is predicted by the CBC. Up with my coffee, I see that it is clearing a bit and notice nothing dripping off the back deck when I stick my head out.

Race out – well with all the decorum I can muster – for a walk about the neighbourhood. Nothing really special sticking to the rules that sort of held me in good stead up to now. Come to a corner choose the one that leads the furthest away from a main road. When in doubt pick the one that doesn’t look like a short cut – although that doesn’t hold here as short cuts go through fields – never ignore a cul-de-sac.

This was a dryer continuation of yesterday pushing further away from the harbour trying to hit all the streets but more in a haphazard pattern than a list to tick off places.

Wandering about I realised that in St. John’s I am not really aware of the water. I can see Signal Hill from the back deck and thus the implication of the ocean. Likewise from the streets in the area there are views of the harbour and the south side hills but it is not all encompassing.

Two cities come to mind – San Francisco and Baltimore but Baltimore stands for any old east coast city – it could easily be Boston. Both cities are associated with water their symbols are base on it – Golden Gate Bridge, Chesapeake Bay – but except for specific areas of the city one might as well be in Phoenix. People build decks at nosebleed heights above the ground so that they can see the Harbour, Narrows, Signal Hill, The Irving Tanks etc but it not the same as the houses built in Petty Harbour crammed up the hill or Pouch Cove where there is more space and less crowding.

This came to mind as I was walking away from what brought me here.

I like St. John’s for all the reasons that I hate Chicago – no grid, houses placed on lots so that they will fit not so that they look good, a rampant individuality at times based on a form – like East Baltimore – but for the most part looking like a high class favela with the placement of the buildings.

Didn’t cover much ground fell back on my old favourites clothes lines, things poking up into the air be it church steeples or light posts, places where people gather – The CEI club in Hamilton Avenue, The ball park at Victoria Park with Fred doing walking laps and not using his cane – I made a snap of him while we were chatting about the weather and where he lives.

A few closed conveniences were thrown into the mix and while it seems that there was little formalism, that seems strange as St. John’s is the home of juxtapositions.

The rains come but trying to keep to my fits of optimism that I get on the Rock decided that it was only raining in Pleasant Street and if I went out to tidy up some images that I had passed by in a speeding stupor. Most were of the cabins along Witless Bay Line.

Out the old Trans Canada now renamed Pitt’s Memorial Drive more for the condition of the roadway, speeding past Mount Pearl and on to the Great Road – with the warning Hydroplaning possible for the next 18KM.

And hydroplane I did nothing like being a hovercraft at 100k/h but so did everyone else so one doesn’t feel so bad. The rain didn’t let up. The outing, outside of burning gasoline, only added more places to visit.

Three accidents heading back into St John’s ah the Trans Canada here.

Heard that even with the weather there were time trials on the pond for the regatta next month when I shall be long gone.

The forecast is for rain again to-morrow – a pity with the dog parade at the pond at Quidi Vidi – Newfoundland owners should wear red Labradors blue and there is an “all others” category.

The only thing to do is pick up the Globe and head over to Clarke’s Beach