Just a short walk, to Tom’s and then back. Somehow, it didn’t rain on me, although the skies were very rumbly and dark. This is the only kind of cloudy sky I like, when it looks like it will storm (even if it doesn’t).
Don’t Rain on Me
Author Archives: Donna
Things are Blooming!
Gorgeous early walk this afternoon with Tom (to accommodate the Oilers game at 3 pm). Pink is starting to pop up around town, with some white blossoms as well. We had more rain on Tuesday, which was great. A bit of thunder too. Slowly but surely we are greening up.
13,673 steps, 19C.
It’s May!
It’s May, and like April, we’ve had mostly very nice weather and the snow is long gone. Tom and I are back to using the lower MacKinnon Ravine Trail so there’s some variation and good cardio.
The MacKinnon Bridge has become a very familiar feature of our walks. The other day, as we were approaching from Ravine Drive, there were a lot of police and fire trucks. Unfortunately, someone had jumped off, but apparently was alive long enough to be transported by ambulance to the hospital (which we witnessed, inadvertently). That fall would probably kill you, but it’s not high enough to be 100% certain. I hope the person survived. Very disturbing to come across, especially in such a beautiful setting.
14C, 14,429 steps
Woops, April
Yikes, I seem to have missed a bunch of posts for April, although I’ve done lots of walking, mostly with Tom. It’s been very dry, and a couple of days we hit 21C, but mostly mid-teens. Finally, on May 8, it rained, and rained. So needed. Here’s a few photos from the past month. Oh, and I got my first vaccination on April 25! Also, Tom and I saw the following Oilers: Zach Kassian riding a bike with his toddler, Leon Draisaitl with his dog and girlfriend, and Jesse Puljujärvi with his dog, smiling and having fun with another kid (and his dog) near Alexander Circle. Glenora/Riverside Drive is Oilers central!
On April 18, we went for a much cooler walk in MacKinnon Ravine (6C). Lucky we didn’t get rained on.
A Blooming Buddha
Today’s 17C degree walk with Tom included the following: a blossoming Glovewood Tree, a giant raven (wish I’d brought my actual camera), a budding tree, a flowery Buddha, assorted children’s art along a fence, and a possible sighting of Zack Kassian pushing his daughter in a stroller (no photo cause you know, rude). What a beautiful afternoon!
17C/13,346 steps.
Overcast but warm
Today was the ‘Hamiversary’ of my fall on March 28, 2020 where I tripped on some black ice and tore my hamstring—a part of my anatomy I was completely unfamiliar with until that moment. I was less than a block from home, but the fall rung my bell so soundly I fainted once in the foyer of my building and then again in the elevator. For about 24 hours I thought I had a concussion but it was ‘just’ a torn and/or stretched hamstring which was severe and painful enough to cause the fainting. A few days later a spectacular thigh-length bruise formed on my leg. In my 27 years of walking this is by far the worst injury I’ve ever sustained, and it kept me off the trails for three weeks amidst a growing pandemic. I’m lucky I didn’t need surgery, or that the injury wasn’t worse.
Anyway, this year was much different. I am fully recovered and today, Tom and I went for a mid-afternoon walk on an overcast, snow-less day. March has been very warm, so unlike last year, the sidewalks pose no additional threat to me. No ice and it was 13C. Having said that, a storm was brewing, and we made it home before the rain started.
