Back in my favourite place today. Last week and this coming week too. Cat-sitting for my Mexico-vacationing sister. Last year at this time, I was dog and cat-sitting, but sadly, Eddie, the IQ-challenged whippet passed away, so now it’s just Lucy the orange cat and Jack the black cat. On this bright, sunny Sunday afternoon, I walked through parts of Rossdale, Skunk Hollow, Mill Creek, and Louise McKinney Park. It took almost two hours. I’m not sure if it would have taken me this long a year and a half ago. I’ve lost a significant chunk of my fitness living (temporarily) in south Edmonton. I know I’ve said this before, but I’m almost unrecognizable to myself. My appearance hasn’t really changed, well maybe a little, but it’s how I feel in my skin. Less physical, less connected to the outdoors. There have been bonuses…walking with the dog for instance. Nothing beats a walk with a dog, but walks now seem extraneous to my day, not a part of it, like working and eating. I identified as a walker, and now it would be a fraud to say this, at least in my interpretation of the word. This will change. It has to change. Moving back to Mill Creek/Strathcona in the spring will mean a return to the best part of my ‘old’ life.

Nothing has changed in this part of the river valley. Not really. It’s beautiful, as always, especially against the blue sky and heaps of sparkling snow. There’s a new staircase on the hill up from Skunk Hollow. Such a resonant part of the river valley. Glad to see the rails on the staircase will not impede my ability to steal lilacs in the spring. The river is covered in snow. Unlike last year, where large areas flowed with black water, the river is frozen solid. I went to hear Oprah Winfrey talk last Monday (awesome) and she remarked that not until she saw a photograph did she realize there is a river belwo below the MacDonald Hotel. It was a very snowy, awful day. Not Edmonton at it’s best, unlike today.

My legs feel sore, but I feel infinitely better having walked along my trails, which is exactly how they feel.

3:30PM/-4C