'We were delighted': Dozens of large googly eyes mysteriously appear on B.C. street

VICTORIA -

It seemed like an ordinary morning until Doug Hallstead discovered something extraordinary on the tree outside his home.

“All of sudden there’s these cheerful eyes,” Doug points to a pair of large googly eyes attached to the trunk. “We were delighted!”

But then Doug wondered who put them there and why.

“We started talking to the neighbours,” Doug says. “Nobody said they’d done it.”

Instead, neighbours like Sue Bonnyman pointed out that below the limbs of their trees there were more googly eyes.

“They basically did trees all the way up the street,” Sue points out. “I think they’re great!”

Seemingly overnight, dozens of trees seemed to have sprouted giant eyeballs along Victoria’s Chamberlain Street.

While a few looked like cyclops with just one eye, most of the trees featured two prominent peepers taking it all in.

“I was smiling all the way up the street,” Maia McKinley says.

Kelly Sims, from a block away, started beaming too when she first saw the bark looking back at her.

“It’s a little bit of fun, urban-guerrilla happiness,” Kelly says. “[And] a mystery!”

“I don’t know who it could be,” Maia says. “It was a mystery.”

“Happy mysteries are always fun!” Doug laughs.

It’s a marvellous mystery that some of them tried to solve after someone else mentioned something about seeing a woman with blonde hair carrying a couple eyeballs under her arms.

“I’ve talked to a few blonde ladies,” Doug says. “But none of them will admit to it.”

So the neighbours switched gears, and instead of wondering who did it, started discussing how they could be inspired by it.

“Just buck up,” Sue says. “And make your neighbourhood better.”

Do something unexpected that will simply make someone’s day more delightful.

“And I love the fact that she did it anonymously, to keep the mystery,” Doug smiles. “We don’t have to take credit for the kind things that we do.”

But Doug says we do have to express our gratitude. So in lieu of offering an appreciative handshake or writing a thank-you card, a hug will have to do.

“I just love it,” Doug smiles while embracing the trunk and the tree’s googly eyes seem to look back at him. “Just love it.”