Walked through Mill Creek Ravine today with a friend. Other than a pleasant excuse to go for a walk with a very pleasant fellow, the purpose of this noon-day stroll was to help him with a project, and my ‘job’ was to speak about Mill Creek. Why it’s my favourite walk in the city. Easy job, although I’m an uneasy speaker, and as I discovered, a breathless and sometimes incoherent one. I was being recorded, and it’s not easy to walk and speak at the same time. Correction, it’s damn hard to walk, speak and not sound asthmatic and/or cognitively challenged. Nevertheless, it was fun, and a total pleasure to talk about Mill Creek. It felt at times as if I was escorting someone through a gallery of fine art. Thursday in the Park With K.

Mill Creek Ravine was spectacularly beautiful today, as if it knew we were coming. On with the party pants in varying shades of green. It’s been a few months since I walked the southern section of the creek. As per usual at the end of May, it’s lush and shimmering with bird song. Hard to believe I’ve spent any time away.

No one ever asks me about my walks. To be asked, well, that was kind of  great. Because most of my impressions are internal (unless I write them down in this blog), it was an interesting exercise in verbalizing my experiences in the ravine. Of course, you never really know if someone is catching what you’re pitching, but K seemed happy with what he was hearing. And he can always edit out the huge number of ‘um’s’ and the occasional heaving breaths. I think I also said ‘amazing’ about 50 times, but I’ve forgiven my mouth for its lack of inventiveness. And anyway, it is amazing.

For all of the verbal anguish, it was a fine walk, through a beautiful piece of Edmonton, with a very good (and forgiving) friend. That is enough.

8:43PM/20C