Category Archives: Observations

Bunny!

It’s -32C so no walking, but look how pretty this bunny is lit up by our Christmas lights! I feel sorry for these poor beasts, as well as the birds in this miserable weather. Glad she can find some sustenance in the birdseed, although I did leave out some carrot tops.

About damn time…

It’s been too warm for the river to completely freeze over

It’s been a minute since we went for a walk. Tom was feeling poorly for awhile, so we didn’t walk anywhere, and work was quite busy. So finally today in the late afternoon we went for our usual walk, and it was beautiful. Sunny and 6C. In fact, the last couple of weeks have been very nice. We got a dump of snow the first week of November starting on the 1st (like clockwork) and really nothing since. It’s still fairly white outside, but the main streets are completely clear and there isn’t much depth on the ground. If only it would stay that way.

Tom of the Ravine

Warm October, Blistering November (so far)

Boo

It was the warmest October on record here in Edmonton, but it seems like a long time ago as I sit here in my home office, cold, and looking out at the snow flying in the arctic wind. It was warm on Halloween (we got more than 100 kids!) but the next day the weather started to turn, and by November 2, the snow was falling. I really need to learn to embrace the winter. I used to love it, but it gets harder every year. It’s supposed to be sunny on Wednesday. That will help. No walks in November at all, other than Friday (Nov 5) when we were downtown for an annual visit with Tom’s investment banker and walked most of the way home.

14C and snowing.

Warm and Halloweeny

October 16 overlooking MacKinnon Ravine west. It was about 8C.

October continues to be warm and halloweeny. Our neighbourhood has gone all out and so has the surrounding neighbourhoods of Glenora, Ravine Drive and Crestwood (basically everywhere we most commonly walk).

On October 30 (Sunday), it was 17C! At The Colombian, the coffee shop we always stop at during our walks, we had yet another Oilers sighting – this time Darnell Nurse – looking very smashing indeed. He saw us, mostly because Tom was wearing his Oilers hat. We got a smile, and Tom said, “Great game buddy,” referring to their delicious win over the Flames the previous night.

Here’s a few photos from that walk, and a few others.

October 26, looking (as we often do) at the river
UCP member
It wasn’t actually meant to be horizontal, it was just super windy!
Tom’s comment: “Why is that thing bum fucking a pumpkin?” You can’t unsee it…
Friends, Romans, Corpses…

Harvest Moon

Harvest Moon (partial) over MacKinnon Ravine

October 6 and 7 photos from a couple of late afternoon walks. On Friday (Oct 7), we left after 5:30, had dinner at Vi’s for Pies, and walked home in the dark. Along the way, a partial harvest moon! It was much bigger in person. Beautiful, warm, October walks along the turquoise river.

Even zoomed in, the moon was much bigger with the naked eye
Bluuuueee river
Tom contemplates life, the universe and everything

September Roundup

Coyote along ravine drive (Sept 25)

September isn’t over yet, but I’ve gone on more than a few unremarkable remarkable walks — the usual, in other words, around Grovenor, Glenora, Ravine Drive and MacKinnon Ravine. And in between, summer turned to fall. I’m longing to get back in the woods, but these walks are good enough.

The river, looking west (Sept 25)

We’re headed into a mini-heatwave and a long weekend, so hopefully some ravine walks are in my future. Today, it looked like autumn but felt like summer.

MacKinnon Ravine, looking east (Sept 25)
MacKinnon Ravine, looking west (Sept 25)
Canoes on the river (Sept 21)
Surprisingly, not alien pods but horse chestnuts… (Sept 21)
Tom of the Ravine (Sept 21)