A picture perfect day, the first day of a week of holidays. Felt dopey all day yesterday, so I took Sunday ‘off’ to recover from the Relay for Life. Wouldn’t trust myself with heavy machinery or a pair of running shoes, so best to stay close to home. Today, however, was a different story. Couldn’t wait to get into the woods, get some sun, and escape the giant pounding machines on 99th street. White-throated sparrows and robins welcomed my arrival in Mill Creek Ravine, and as an unexpected bonus, the mosquitoes failed to swarm. There were a few, and I think I lost some blood to their ravenous appetites, but no clouds of flying insects stalking me as I walked. In fact, I had the river valley pretty much to myself, human-wise. A few people in Louise McKinney Park but they were mostly workers operating giant pounding machines. Not exactly sure what they’re doing with the middle and lower paths, but I suspect it has something to do with pounding. The rest of the walk was peaceful. And warm. And pretty.

5:02PM/19C

Anytime you’re part of an event where the central question is ‘what shall we wear on our heads?’, walk away. Look no further than Princess Beatrice if you don’t believe me. My participation in the Relay for Life on Saturday and Sunday was such an event, but I didn’t walk away, although I did walk, for 12 hours. Not straight of course, we took our turns. A great and worthy event, you’ll have no argument from me, but this is not my kind of scene. I have never been an extrovert, a cheerleader, a rah-rah kind of person. Cancer has touched my family deeply and harshly, as it has the closest of my friends, but that doesn’t make me a joiner. However, this time I joined and it wasn’t so bad. And no funny hats, although the possibility came up several times in our pre-event planning sessions.

Our theme was ‘Dreaming of a Cure’, and so naturally, our mascot was a sheep. My plastic garden sheep, who currently resides on the balcony, became for a day (and night) the mascot of hope. Never mind that I long ago doctored his face with an inexpertly painted set of teeth and a pair of bugged-out eyes. Now home, basking in the sun and memories of his participation in something worthwhile, my only wish is that the pigeons would respect his newly elevated station in life.

The walk itself was at Foote Field. It’s a well-known sporting facility, but being who I am, I’ve never set foot in Foote. The track was nice to walk on, and in fact the walking was quite pleasurable, either alone or in tandem with my friends. We ate well…someone ordered pizza (!), and there were snacks and heavily decorated sheep spilling out of our designated area, which seemed to attract a lot of photographers. Fun times. What was not fun was the cold.

When we got there around 5:30 pm, it was windy. Because our theme was ‘Dreaming of a Cure’ our team was dressed in flannel pajamas, which sounds warm…except that my pj’s were short-sleeved and capris cut, so even in the sun I was already cold. Having no experience with this sort of thing I did not pack enough clothes. A long-time Folk Fest attendee, I thought a fleece would be adequate. Nope. Not even close. By midnight I was frozen solid. Colder than I think I’ve ever been in my entire life. I’m talking full-on body tremours. In light of what many people in attendance had gone through, or were currently going through, I tried to ‘suck it up’, but the only thing that alleviated the shaking was to walk, and to take periodic dips into the Saville Centre to get warm.

By 3:00 am, the temperature was 4C, and that’s when the hallucinations began. Nothing major, just a bit of dodging the flat but slightly florescent track markers that would suddenly and inexplicably rise out of the ground in front of me. Even with some ambient lighting, it was pretty dark. Fellow walkers, if they were walking the opposite direction, startled me as they passed. It’s been a very, very long time since I stayed up all night long, and I’m pretty sure I wasn’t strolling in a field in my pj’s.

By 5:00 am, breakfast was served, and I can honestly say I’ve never had a more righteous pancake, and the coffee, as bad as it was, was a revelation. When we walked out of the Saville Centre the sun was shining bright, and the vision of trees in full green splendour was a major brain fuck. It felt like I’d spent a night in bone-chilling winter, and to ‘wake up’ and see a beautiful spring day was monumentally confusing to my synapses. (If I were animated, little ’tilt’ signs would have appeared on my eyeballs.) Nevertheless, in spite of the cognitive dissonance we stumbled to our site, packed up our stuff, kicked a few sheep to the curb, and parted ways. At home, a righteous bubble bath in steaming hot water followed by a solid five hour sleep.

Thanks to all my sponsors, to the event organizers, to my friends and especially to my BFF, the Captain of our Dream Team, who showed an inspirational level of perseverance last night. You got some balls, girl. In spite of the sombre reasons for the existence of Relay For Life, it was a fun night, and I hope it raised a lot of money. But next year, a down-filled parka and snow pants.

Yeah, still pretty pink out there, but the green is taking over. A quick couple of walks Tuesday and Wednesday because of the rain. Today, overcast skies but no rain, so I took a longer route through downtown and McKinney. The east end of the park is vibrating with colour, with more to come once the rose bushes start to bloom. This area of Louise McKinney Park is where the LRT will come through once construction gets underway, if it ever gets underway. I’m glad the Chinese community is now disputing the downtown route. The more delays the better, although it will be lack of money rather than public dissent that tanks this particular southeast LRT route. Find another route, City of Edmonton. This one is nothing short of a big, ugly gash through downtown and the river valley.

The North Saskatchewan is running high and fast. The marker, as always, is Seagull Island just off the east shore of the river…and today, no birds, and no place for them to perch. Also, no squawking. On the other hand, mother goose has been steadfast in her attentiveness to the nest under the Cloverdale footbridge. I think she has four eggs. It’s a terrible place for her to perch in some ways, because the goslings have a hell of a long way to fall when they fledge. In fact, I think the boards were placed there so that she wouldn’t nest on the cement pillar, but home is home I guess. At least they’ll land in water.

Only other forms of life of note today were the giant frickin’ swarms of mosquitoes in Mill Creek Ravine. Seriously, I haven’t seen that many legs and wings since the last time I was in the woods. A few days ago. What up with the mozzies this year?

5:55PM/19C

I think I’ve used that XTC song title before for a post, but I can’t think of another phrase that fits as well. Visually, the newly foliated trees and bushes are almost at their summer fullness, which seems impossible compared to last week. All that new life spilling sweet perfume and piney resin scents, and puffs of poplar seed wafting in the air…no wonder the birds sing so fervently. Another sign of summer? The bees are once again bumping into my forehead. I love the noise they make: zzzzzzZUHzz, which is Bee for D’oh, or perhaps something worse.

Stayed in Mill Creek today, and just extended the walk south to the trestle bridges. It doesn’t matter how many times I walk under those old wooden train tracks, it always feels extraordinary. Of course, the entire ravine is extraordinary, but this seems like a bonus feature. There’s not a lot of historical structures around, so to have this in the middle of the woods is unique. Sort of like an Inca ruin. Or not.

Mill Creek Pool is open again, which means audible screams and glimpses of bright blue water through the trees. Another sign of summer. You know, I consider myself to be a winter person, who loves summer. But I’m thinking maybe I’m a summer person who loves winter, if that makes any sense. I love cats and dogs, but I’ve always thought of myself as a dog person. But now that I’ve had a cat for 11 years, I think maybe I’m as much if not more of a cat person. I guess it doesn’t really matter. It’s just so damn nice out there, I can’t imagine wanting it to be anything other than what it is.

1:30PM/25C

I thought the green was impressive, but the pink is spectacular! A hot, fragrant, pretty day. Everything is filling out. Lots of heat, could use some rain.

Walked through downtown before heading into the river valley. Now that Scona Road is closed, my neighbourhood is remarkably quiet. Oddly enough, I think I miss the ambient traffic noise! Anyway, after downtown, into McKinney with the beautiful apple trees, and then into Mill Creek with the not so beautiful (but necessary) fire-ban signs. Planning to walk a lot this long weekend.

5:45PM/23C