Bare Basics: silk, lace, and a lot of spirit

Looking into Bare Basics' front windows is like peeking into the pages of the Victoria Secret's catalog.

Only better.

You still get to see some lovey lacy lingerie, but without the gorgeous models that make you feel, well, less than perfect.

There is nothing judgmental about a set of mannequins. And you can actually imagine yourself wearing the same things that they do, well, may be not the more skimpy ones. Not me, anyway.



Those belong on long and lean ladies, like this one...



I find Bare Basics' window displays very pleasing to the eyes.



One in particular, really lit the entire village's imagination. Was it just the 2010 Olympics spirit that had its grip on all of us British Columbians?



I may be biased but, I think that Bare Basics' display trumped all the others. Who else could have expressed our pride and hope with nothing more than feather boas and lace.

A postcard from Steveston

Others may not have been enamoured with the idea of hosting a world-class event, but I felt thrilled that for two weeks, the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games held the world's attention, that the name of our city was repeated in multiple languages, and that the beauty of our province was displayed on millions of TV screens across the globe.

To relive that magical time, I decided to pull out and post scenes I captured as we stood on the threshold of this historic event. On February 9, 2010, the torch relay wound its way through the village and my neighbours and I flocked to the intersection of No.1 Road and Steveston Hwy to welcome the flame.

At around 6:00 PM, everyone rushed out



We positioned ourselves at the curb and craned our necks to spot the approaching caravan.



Although it was bone-chillin' cold, we stood rooted to the spot.



Then they came, in quick succession.

The Coke truck



The RBC truck



The truck with the Olympic mascot



And right behind clusters of security personnel, the torch itself



It was over much too quickly but we all felt lucky to have witnessed the procession first hand and the sense of community it awakened in all our hearts. Now, if only we could repeat the whole process all over again...