9. My poem about my impending high school graduation

Well what can I say; I’m steadily living life day by day.

My time is running short in high school but it’s all right because I’ll continue to keep everything cool.

There have been some good memories made as well as rough times involved in between every scene but I still stay keen.

The truth is, this whole experience went by fast but I know it’s not going to be my last.

Now that overrated ceremony that many said they hated is upon me.

This is going to be a milestone to my life and I might feel all alone after but hey that’s what they all say.

I got a big dream; a big expectation and it will all take a lot of dedication and not much relaxation but hopefully I get a good sensation.

The plan is to hold on and stay strong because things always get better.

8. Purpose of a park + My thoughts about parks

The purpose of a park is to serve as a “little local get a away.” Parks are an excellent place to attend to when one is stressed or overwhelmed by regular daily life. There is usually a relaxing atmosphere present in a park, which is a perfect environment to ease the mind and unwind all the tension or stress that someone may have accumulated throughout the day. Not only are parks a good place to relax yourself they also serve as a place to get some exercise in. Many people simply go to parks to have a nice jog around. The scenery in most parks is usually a more appealing place for people to walk or jog in, compared to jogging alongside a busy road. A park is also a marvelous place to bring children to; it’s even better if there’s some sort of playground to keep them occupied while their parents can successfully relax on a bench near by. In my opinion, parks are a great thing to have around every so often throughout a city. I believe they are a necessity for a city especially a large one. This is because I think that every person needs somewhere to go in order to “escape the city life” every once in a while for all the reasons that I described above. Without parks I can’t imagine where all those people who need an escape once in a while would go to instead, especially when they are short on time for example: after work or when they have other obligations. 

7. How my poem connects to my personal philosophy of life

This poem not only suits my bench very well it also strongly reflects upon my personal philosophy of life. It is relevant to my philosophy of life because I believe and am realizing more and more how important it is to make the most out of everyday of your life. As I’m getting older I start to understand why people always say enjoy your youngster years while you still can, life will pass by you before you know it. It honestly feels like everyday is going by faster then the last and this poem really made me think about how nice my childhood years were and also how quickly these 17 years have gone by. This poem really touched my thoughts on how to live my life. It inspired me to do my best before time takes advantage of me and results in myself being to old to change or partake in certain aspects of my life.

6. A poem that suits my bench + why

I decided that this poem suits my bench virtually perfectly. This is because my bench of choice has a lot of sentimental value to me that involves my childhood. My bench really reminds me of my childhood times when I would always stop at that specific bench to rest and it also just reminds me of playing in Lynn Canyon Park in general. Therefore, I thought that a touching childhood poem (this poem really got to me) such as this one was a very good pick and is relevant to my bench.

My Childhood

My childhood was the time when I was innocent


When the world seemed to be fair


When my universe was around my toys

My childhood was the time when I lived in dreams


When everyone was selfless 


When everyone appeared to be a friend

My childhood was the time when my life was full of colors

When sorrows never knocked on my door


When smile was gift presented to everyone

My childhood was the time

When love was pure


When there were no obligations


When tenderness prevailed

My childhood was the time which is long gone


tears flow from my eyes when i go back in my childhood


my childhood will never come back but

The child in me will never go

5. Journal about my trip to the park

On Tuesday, January 15^th, I decided to visit a specific bench that I had chosen a few days prior to when I actually committed to visiting my bench. Since January has quite short days I had to speed walk home from school in order to make it to the bench before it got dark. When I got home I immediately dropped of my heavy backpack, put on some warmer clothes and rushed out the door. When I was back outside some darker clouds had come by and it had started drizzling, which was a bit discouraging for a walk in the woods but nevertheless I continued on with my objective. The bench I was heading to is located in Lynn Canyon Park and is about a 15minute walk away from my house. The walk to the bench consists of multiple hills to walk down; firstly when I leave the gate in my backyard I immediately enter an alleyway, which I have to follow to the very bottom where there is a road I need to cross. After crossing this road there is a short trail, which leads to a ridiculously long stair set, followed by another trail that finally leads to Arborlynn Park. Once I was at Arborlynn Park I had to walk down a road that goes all the way around the perimeter of the park and later connects to a larger road. At this connection of the two roads I happened to see an undercover police SUV that had pulled over another car, most likely for speeding or some other illegal driving maneuver. After seeing what all this commotion was about I turned left and continued down the main road and just a little ways further I crossed the road so I could get to one of the many entrances to Lynn Canyon Park. From this point on it’s approximately five more minutes of walking to get to my bench. Immediately after entering the park there is one more stair set to walk down and right after a winding path that finally leads directly to my special bench. 

4. If I dedicated a bench

If I dedicated a bench to one of my loved ones, just like if I had a bench dedicated to myself I’d truly want the bench to be in a very special and symbolic place. First of all I would closely look into that persons history and try to extract an insight of where he or she enjoyed spending their time outdoors this would most likely include some sort of family discussion. After gaining a general idea of a few locations where the bench could be placed I would gradually narrow down the options by looking for further information on what area would be ideal. In conclusion, it’s hard for me to specify on where I would place the bench it all depends on what that specific loved one enjoyed doing in there lives and where that loved one enjoyed spending their time. As for an inscription plate for that special someone; I would want it to be as meaningful as possible and clearly show that they had many people who loved them and cared about them. A good example of this criteria would be: “You are physically gone but mentally still with us”.

3. If a bench were dedicated to me

If I had a bench personally dedicated to myself I would truly wish that my bench were in an area that was very symbolic to at least a substantial portion of my life. Looking at how my life has been going by so far, it’s quite difficult to identify a singular spot for where I’d like my bench to be. However, to narrow it down somewhere in Lynn Canyon would be an excellent area to place a bench for me in regards to my North Vancouver childhood. Back when I was even younger and used to live in Burnaby, the only place I could imagine having a bench placed for myself would be in Central Park due to the fact that I would visit this park on a regular basis and I eventually gained a sentimental bond to the park. For a more present day preference of where I’d like to have a bench placed for myself would have to be on Grouse mountain since I go snowboarding up Grouse many times each week. Out of the three areas I stated, if I really had to decide on one particular location I would have to go with Lynn Canyon Park since I’ve spent the most amount of time at this park out of the three during my lifetime. To narrow it down even further, since Lynn Canyon Park is quite a large area, I would very much be in favor of my bench to be located somewhere around Twin Falls since this is my all time favorite cliff jumping spot. For the inscription plate of my bench, I’d like it to say something about my family and friends idolizing me. An example would be: “You are still Admired and loved by those who matter most”.

2. What I see, feel, think and want when on my bench

What I see when I'm sitting on my bench

Side view of my bench

Inscription plate

When I am sitting on the bench, directly in front of me I see all kinds of trees, ferns, shrubs, and various weeds that are quite densely populated around each other. When I look towards my left I see: part of the fence that surrounds the back of the bench, a few trees some large, some small and the pathway in between which leads to the huge stair set that I mentioned earlier. When I look towards my right I see another part of the fence behind the bench, all sorts of vegetation and the winding pathway in between all of it that is steadily going uphill. If I try to turn my head back either way I see most of the fence that borders the bench and behind it there is a tiny creek that has large boulders in it and all kinds of shrubbery over hanging the creek banks. Lastly, when I look up I see a miss-shaped opening that is somewhat matching the pattern of the trail with trees on both sides of the opening. Through the opening in the trees there is dark grey clouds with a few lighter patches throughout. As I am sitting on this bench I feel slightly cold and I get a feeling of loneliness as well as uneasiness mostly because there is clearly no one else around at the moment and the rain combined with the dark grey clouds stimulate a feeling of discomfort. At the moment I’m getting thoughts of peacefulness and relaxation, despite the unappealing conditions the forests scenery prompts calming thoughts and lets me reminisce about my child hood memories at this bench and the park as a whole. When I’m sitting at my symbolic bench I feel a want for nicer weather. Firstly, I’d like this rain to stop as well as these clouds to move on and be replaced with blue bird skies. The thought of wanting nicer weather leads on to the want of the summer to return. I’d really love the summer to return so the good old swimming holes may once again be used and also basking on the rocks surrounding the swimming holes could be a reality again. 

1. Bench choice and description

View of my whole bench, the staircase is just to the right

The bench that I truly felt is suitable for this project is located in Lynn Canyon Park, North Vancouver. There are a few significant reasons behind why I chose this specific bench and not any other. Firstly, the most meaningful reason of all is that this bench is a very significant reminder of my childhood (the North van part of my childhood) and also has sentimental value to me. Back when I was just a youngster I would go down to Lynn creek (in Lynn Canyon Park) virtually everyday, sometimes even twice a day, pretty much whenever I could convince my parents to take me and on my way there I would pass this bench every time I went down. This creek as well as park was almost my second home, I would spend a lot of my childhood time there doing a variety of activities such as: playing fetch with all the dogs that would be enjoying the creek, snorkeling with a net to try and catch some salmon fry in the deeper parts of the creek, skipping rocks, making little side streams by moving rocks/gravel, and just exploring the nature terrain all around. After a tiring day of playing in and around the creek the walk back up all the hills would begin, after walking through a substantial amount of the trail I would eventually get to the base of the huge staircase that I dreaded every time. At the top of the staircase there would be my special bench waiting for my tired body to sit on it. Over time it became a tradition to sit down and rest at this bench after every time we would hike up the long staircase, this tradition that came about is the second important reason why I chose this bench but it also ties in with the bench reminding me of my childhood. My last significant reason for choosing this specific bench is that this bench is actually dedicated to one of my good friends grandpa. The interesting part about this dedication knowledge is that I never knew until recently. Last summer we were heading back up to my house from a classic swimming hole at the creek and we got to the base of the dreaded staircase, then finally when we got to the top of it and sat down on the bench he informed me that the dedication name is in fact his grandpas. The whole experience of walking up the stairs and sitting on the bench after gave me a strong sense of déjà vu from my childhood. My bench is evidently quite old and is made out of real wood, which has green slime all over it due to the bench’s age. It has dark green armrests, legs, and an also a dark green inscription plate with gold writing that says, “You are gone but not forgotten” Tom Spencer 1934-2002.