As opposed to yesterday, a great day for a walk. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy Saturday’s stroll through Mill Creek and Louise McKinney, but it was cloudy, and I was under-dressed for a wind that was overly enthusiastic. But back to today, perfect temperature, lovely blue sky, and not too wet. Maggie seemed extra happy wandering through the clover near Aspen Gardens, even though by that time, we had been out for more than an hour.

In the last few weeks, I haven’t walked as much as usual (which is not that much to begin with), and a lack of wilderness in my life always shows up first in my mood. For the sake of everyone around me, I need to get myself into the woods more often. Having the main access to Whitemud still closed doesn’t help, but a nice person at the City of Edmonton provided some assurance (but no deadline) for the eventual re-opening of the trail. It’s a main drainage area, which is why it was so badly affected by all the rain, and why it may be open sooner rather than later. Good.

My walk on Saturday followed a three-hour hair styling appointment. These bi-monthly visits are always a marathon, but  pleasant marathon, even though my stylist was in a pretty dark place health-wise yesterday, popping oxycodone and probably too gorked for such a long app’t. By the time I left, she was ready for a nap, and I was ready for a vigorous hike, but the chill in the air popped my bubble of anticipation. Stupid shorts. Stupid tank top. It was only about 11 degrees. Today, it’s much nicer, hot under the sun but not sufferingly so, like a few weeks ago. The humidity is way down. What a strange summer. Tons of butterflies fluttering in the air, almost to the point of being ethereal in spots. Maggie didn’t notice, she was too busy smelling the coyote that was supposedly stalking Whitemud Creek. Didn’t see any coyotes, but when she stopped to roll in something, I figured it wasn’t bluebells.

2:00PM/21C