Lonsdale contrasts

Three Lonsdale blocks over three weeks - a warm sunny day, two cold wet ones, but one of those under cover of a bus shelter.  There was as much contrast in the subjects - modest old and somewhat decrepit houses on the upper part of Lonsdale; humble but cheerful businesses in the laundromat - vacuum cleaners - shoe repair - clogs - naturopath - Luigi's barbershop block of central Lonsdale; and the new luxury condo buildings going up at 13th.  I also had a contrast in my company on each block - two men doing some kind of clandestine business deal that I tried not to notice in a truck right in front of me in upper Lonsdale; sullen teenagers studiously avoiding eye contact with anything non-electronic at the 17th street bus shelter; a friendly and interesting lady, and two old men speaking an incomprehensible Spanish dialect at 13th St.  And, of course, that variety is really the nub of urban-sketching.