Just one of the many beautiful walks home. The daisy’s are from around campus, but the view of the river valley is from the path that runs under and adjacent Victoria Park Road – my little discovery last year. I should really try to walk it in winter. My only issue is that last winter was especially icy, and this path is quite hilly.
So glad that this path is open to me again after what seemed like more than a month of caterpillars, my June nemesis. I’m not 100% happy with my commute routes, but they are better than what I had living in south Edmonton. I still miss my Mill Creek trails.
Well, maybe not a pig. A javelina? A razorback boar? Whatever he is, I love him. He lives Glenora, in Tom’s neighbourhood, about two blocks from where he lives. Not sure if someone made him or if he was purchased, but as far as garden gnomage is concerned, this guy wins. I hope we get to meet the home owners at some point. They need to be thanked for bringing this charming boy (or girl?) into the ‘hood.
As always, Glenora is spectacularly beautiful. Tom has begun to walk for a couple of hours every morning, so on the weekends, I usually join him at least once. The walk goes as far as Valleyview and Ravine Drive. Very, very nice houses, but also, incredible views of the river valley, and some lovely gardens.
At one point I spotted this beautiful creature on a leaf. I found out later that he is a Hummingbird Clearwing moth! I wished I had brought my actual camera. His tail is actually quite fuzzy, but you just can’t get the closeups with a phone.
And of course, this time of year, there is nothing more beautiful than sunflowers against a blue, blue sky.
Since I am writing this after the fact, I can’t remember what the temperature was. Probably around 15C.
Continuing on a theme…we had a near record-breaking wet July, and parts of June, and now, parts of August (I’m writing this after the fact). On the one hand, it’s wonderful. The grass, the flowers, the trees, everything is going nuts. It’s beautiful. I would MUCH rather have too much rain than not enough.
On the other hand, it’s hard to plan anything. It’s rained almost every day, and sometimes very, very hard rain. Some festivals have been compromised. While it only rained two of the four days of Folk Fest, the grounds were so wet they trucked in sand and placed wooden walkways everywhere. The ground underfoot was still soft, however.
For me, I’ll take the rain. The weather has also been cooler than average, which makes it easier to walk and easier to sleep.
Most of my walks in July have been commutes, with a handful of longer routes thrown in. The caterpillars buggered off about the second week of July so at least I have the river valley back.
God knows I love a rainy day. If I am not at work, it’s like free time. I don’t feel pressured to do anything but read. And drink coffee. And listen to the lovely sound of raindrops on kittens, or something like that. But this is getting ridiculous. We’ve had so much rain from mid-June to now, mushrooms have become the official plant of Edmonton, and I swear some of them are becoming sentient.
According to local weatherologist Josh Classen this is only the second rainiest period (June 1-July 7) in the recent past at 138 mm of rain, and we’ve had more rain since he made that graphic. However, enough complaining. Yesterday evening (Wednesday), the clouds broke after an exceedingly gloomy day, and the sun and blue sky were like a spa day and jail break rolled into one. It was beautiful.
I drove over to Sharon’s for dinner, and a walk with Stella. We walked along the powerline and then into Whitemud Ravine. The creek, as expected, was very high and fast which made Stella even more nervous about crossing the wooden bridge, but she made it and we had a great time. She looked particularly lovely nosing about in the clover.
The good thing about the rain is the lushness of the foliage, and a reprieve from the always looming drought, but today it’s once again overcast and cool. Looking forward to my day off on Friday which is supposed to be sunny and warm. O Great Mushroom Lord of the Sky, let it be.
I’ve been off since June 27, a little more than a week. Unlike last year at this time, which was sweltering, May and June have been cool and wet, and July has started off unseasonably cold as well. I don’t want to complain, because my place gets very hot, and rain is always good, buuuut…it’s been tough to plan a lot of outdoor activities. Also, it’s the tail end of worm season, so some of my usual paths are still off limits. Nevertheless, I’ve had a few good walks, and yesterday was one of the best walks in recent memory.
Sharon, Stella and I went to Goldbar Park. I’ve only been there once (with Sharon and Maggie), because it’s on the far east side of Edmonton, but wow, it’s fantastic! It straddles Rundle Park, and it’s hard to tell where one ends and the other begins, but both were spectacular, and the weather was perfect. Blue sky, no rain, and about 15C, which was fine for a morning walk.
We started off by crossing the Ainsworth Dyer footbridge, which is almost exactly like my old love, the Cloverdale pedestrian bridge at Louise McKinney Park (sacrificed for the incoming Valley Line LRT). The difference is that some park vehicles can cross it, but other than that it’s the same wooden and steel expanse, open to the sky, and creaky underfoot. Stella hates bridges where she can see a bit of the water through the slats. It scares her, so she walks very slow and low.
Right off the bat, I spotted a pelican, but I only brought my phone, so no good photos. Lots of swallows too.
Ainsworth Dyer bridge
The park(s) are full of water features. Mini-lakes, streams, sloughs, multiple bridges, and lots of birdlife. Stella helped herself to one duck-filled pond, and was super happy just trotting around the park, wet and sparkly in the sun.
We looped around Rundle and then followed an unpaved path along the river in Goldbar, which is off-leash. I was totally paranoid about Stella wandering off into the river, which is running very high and fast, but a combination of my yelps, Sharon’s calm assertiveness, and eventually, the return of the leash, kept this curious water dog out of the drink.
Fantastic walk, in good company, under beautiful skies.
The previous day (Wednesday) Tom and I walked through Glenora/Ravine Drive in the late afternoon. It too was a great walk, under mottled grey skies and some sun. Such a beautiful neighbourhood, with amazing views of the river valley. We used to walk together more, but it’s fallen off the radar of late. I blame hockey, binge-watching series like, most recently, Deadwood, and rain/cold.
River valley from Glenora
View from Glenora bridge (142 Street)
The night before, Tuesday, I really wanted to go for a walk in the afternoon, but Tom was still asleep (he’s largely nocturnal), and the early evening looked wet, so although we didn’t go together, I threw on my running shoes and headed out around 6:15 pm. Happily, there were no worms hanging from the trees along Victoria Park Road or even River Road, but the bad news was that I was chasing a big, black cloud and I lost. By the time I was mid-way through McKinnon Ravine, the rain started. I got pretty soaked. There was a big rainbow over Groat Road, but it was still raining at that point and I didn’t want to risk ruining my phone. Nearing 124th Street, the rain stopped. I’m glad I went for that walk. It felt like something the old Donna would do. Priorize a walk over just about everything.
