With summer knocking at our door once more, evening walks along English Bay become more frequent. A few nights ago, I’d brought the tripod but decided to play with my lens’ IS instead and these were all hand-held.

There are – and here I shall repeat myself shamelessly – very few places on Earth where the peace in the air is so tangible. With Stanley Park at my back and the bay stretching in front of me, a few sleeping giants at anchor offshore, sea birds flying by while a seal gently pokes its head up, people laughing softly all around, I am always struck by the simplicity of it all. And yet, how rare a city. How privileged a life. If only there was a recipe for such success, we could duplicate it at will around the globe.

But it seems Vancouver might just have been very, very lucky.