First tick on a ticky-list for 2023

What is a ticky-list, you might ask. Jolly good question, answered best here, by Diamond Geezer. (He makes one word of it, but I'm sticking with my hyphen.) It's a special to-do list, an amusement, a spot of order in one's random world, and my ticky-list is a way of exploring parts of town I might not otherwise get to. 

This year I am going to visit, in no particular order (drum roll, please) every branch of the Vancouver Public Library. There are 21 branches, including the one at the end of the block, the one I went to as a wee child and the different ones I frequented as a teen or student. Of course, there are several I've never been to at all. I figure the library is in a neighbourhood, easily accessible, surrounded by other stuff like shops and schools and parks. So I can get there on transit, walk around, find a coffee shop and see what is in Mount Pleasant or Marpole. I might even walk from one to another, after a gander at the map. With 21 little goals, I will start out aiming for 2 a month, and we'll see what happens. 

For Christmas, I was given a gift certificate at Michael's, the giant crafting store. So today I found a library within walking distance of a Michael's and off I went. 

I chose the Firehall branch, which is on 10th Avenue near Granville Street. I had not even known there was a library near here, though I have been in the shops around there often, and even recently. 

I crossed the street. I don't recall seeing this hand on the "push here to get a walk signal" buttons before. Kinda freaky, I say. 

Just half a block in, there is the firehall, and the Firehall branch of the library. 

The library is upstairs, and the front door is not especially welcoming. 

But there were books and movies and magazines and all the good things, once I got inside. I took two books out, both local history. Luckily I can return them to any branch! 

One down, twenty to go! 

My route then took me eastwards. I could have gone along Broadway, the main street around there, but I walked along 10th Avenue instead, looking at the variety of apartment buildings, none very tall, mostly from the 1940s to 1960s, by my amateur estimation. 

The big, sturdy, somewhat elegant Shaughnessy Lodge. 

The little, striped, postwar building right across the street. I have lived in a couple of these in my day. They are everywhere. 

This one had some great ivy, obviously, and wooden frames on the windows. I wonder what it was like inside. 

I stopped for a coffee in a shop that sold flowers and tea (and the occasional coffee) but I didn't take any pictures and they don't seem to have a webpage. It was cute, though! 

Finally, I made it to Michael's. That place is overwhelming. 

Billions of beads. So shiny! 

Pretty coloured storage solutions! Or are they just more things I would have to find space for? 

I ended up with some cotton yarn. Dishcloths for all! 

I walked almost 9000 steps, found a new library and a new coffee shop and got a stash of yarn. Off to a good start, I'd say.