Author Archives: Donna

Is He Smiling at Me?

I think this is a Common Green Darner Dragonfly

Interesting lunchtime walk today. It was only about 21C because of the smoke, but hella humid. Walked over to Emily Murphy Park and then back up the steep MacKinnon Ravine hill. Other than visiting the lower riverside trail in Emily Murphy for the first time this year, the highlight of the walk was a inadvertent photo of a dragonfly. At one of the lookout points in MacKinnon Ravine, I was taking a shot of some common tansey (as one does) and noticed the dragonfly, or perhaps a damsel fly. Upon closer inspection, I could see that he was smiling! Or at least, it looked like he was smiling. Maybe because we both agreed that we did not miss the sun pounding on our backs.

I love him
Emily Murphy Park lower trail

The trail in Emily Murphy was really wavy, like an intestine.

Also saw this bastard in Emily Murphy. His antenna (or eyebrows?) were on point.

MacKinnon Ravine

12,010 steps.

A Perfect Summer Day (with shade)

Kind of a perfect summer day. A little hot for me but nothing a bit of shade couldn’t take care of. No smoke, and a couple of brief rain episodes have greened things up. More rain would be great, but today’s circuitous walk via the museum to Tom’s was super nice. Also, a bonus kitty!

Tiny perfect pinecones…

The Panther of Glenora

26C, 10,342 steps.

Summer Storm (finally)

First big storm of the summer last night. Much needed torrential rain, and lots of thunder and lightning. It was awesome. Early this morning we went for a cool walk, no smell of smoke although the sky was a bit apocalyptic.

Saw a bunch of hawks, not sure what kind. Probably peregrines.

12C, 11,690 steps.

Smoke Show

MacKinnon Ravine, dry and smoky

It’s been exceptionally smoky (BC forest fires) these last few days, but to put a positive spin on it, if there is one, the temperature has dropped drastically. What a summer. First it’s too damn hot, now it’s too damn smoky. I think it was smokier in 2010 but yesterday (July 18) the air index was 10+ (high risk) so Tom and I did not walk. Neither one of us has any lung issues, but just to be safe. Also, the air smells gross. Coming home from a restaurant (yay!) around 7 pm, it was like a cold autumn evening (about 13C). Definitely not shorts weather, I discovered…

We did walk July 16 and 17 in the mornings, around 6:30 am. Hard to know what to be more distressed about: the smoke or the drought, although they are related. Always good to get out and walk though, and as mentioned, the temperature was about 17C, so it was very pleasant.

Drought (again)

Very. According to Josh Klassen (CTV Edmonton): “The June/July drought in Edmonton is unprecedented in the past 30 years. Just 29 mm of precipitation at the Blatchford weather station this year. Average is 171 mm. The only other years with less than 100 mm are 2002, 2015 & 1992. We’re at HALF of the previous 30yr record low.” Yikes.