Another wasted day, and it was a holiday, of all things, and of my choosing. I wish I’d chosen better. Very cold, too cold to walk. Missed a hair appointment, or wrote down the wrong time, not sure. Waited around for a (kindly) rescheduled app’t later in the day. Nothing accomplished except some freshly shorn locks and a few chapters further into a book that’s already stale from inattention. Poor eating. A handful of Chips Ahoy cookies and not a drop of water until twenty minutes ago. Pop. Coffee. Feeling anxious, bored and a little, I don’t know, dispersed. Not the exact word I’m looking for, just something that means notpresent. Crap food and no exercise is the direct path to this sorry state of affairs.
Walked on Saturday, which is where these pictures originate, but I was flat on my back sick yesterday, and today, I’m up and around but still woozy. Such a shame. I watched that beautiful, sunny Sunday pass me by from the couch. It’s 12:30 on Monday and I don’t think I’ll be getting out onto the trails today either. Some sort of flu-like thing. Feels like I’m on a boat. I don’t like boats.
Saturday, however, was spectacular. Mostly stayed in south Mill Creek, but it was a long walk nontheless, due in part to the terribly slippery sidewalks. Just getting into the river valley is a workout. The trails were fine, not icy. Mill Creek is already flooding in some places. At one point, I came across giant area of water. There were two people and their two black dogs on the other side. None of us knew what to do. “River or puddle?” I said. They shrugged. And then their dogs came bounding across the ‘river’ toward me. We all laughed. A bit wet, but not deep. Only dogs would potentially sacrifice their lives for a fondle. Anyway, thanks doggies. Without your assistance I would have probably turned around.
Like 2009, this spring might be treacherous in Mill Creek. I remember not being able to walk down there for a couple of weeks. I discovered this the hard way, after sinking knee-deep in river water, which I thought was dirty, but solid ground. It’s quite amazing how much the creek changes in speed and girth, depending on the time of year. In the middle
A Mill Creek Christmas (in February)
of summer, it’s usually so low you just can’t imagine how it could ever flood. And then there are times, usually after a rain, when it’s running so fast it’s like a mountain stream.
Curiously, towards the south end of Mill Creek, I ran across a little tree, decorated for Christmas. Very pretty, if not slightly unseasonal. I’ve been down this way quite a bit, and somehow I either missed this festive sight, or there’s been a recent decorative episode. How very odd, and delightful. Obviously, there are some very industrious and creative birds in the ravine.
I can’t write anymore. The couch is beckoning. Back to the boat.
It was 5C on Saturday, I think. I have no idea what it is today, but it looks nice. đ
Long walk home. Just under two hours, and I needed every minute. Tense day. Very tense day. Nothing like a physically tiring, mind-emptying bit of exercise to re-bobulate a discombobulated brain.
The melt has uncovered a dinosaur skeleton on the bridge crossing over Connor’s Hill, of all places. A spinal column, if I’m not mistaken, and a big fucker too. The river valley continues to surprise me.
Well, four actually. It’s the same trees. The photo to the left was taken this afternoon on the path toward Skunk Hollow, and the one below was taken in late June. I was thinking fondly of summer today, as my nose was running like a bank thief and my thumbs were struggling out of their solitary mitten pockets in a desperate effort to join their warmer finger cousins. The image of summer in my mind was of these trees, and how different they look now. For better or worse, winter seems like a natural state, while summer fades to a dream-like memory in February.
Was it really that green? Was it really that warm?
The trees getting their green on
At least I walked. I’ve been maddeningly inconsistent about my exercise, of late. Too cold, too slippery. I have been busy…that’s a legitimate excuse, but weather, for the most part, is not. However, it did seem terribly cold today. It’s getting warmer this week, but I can’t wait. Can’t wait for the weather to change, can’t wait for ideal conditions to put one foot in front of the other…can’t put life off. I can, however, complain about it.
The sun showed its bright face all day, so at least it looked beautiful. Looking forward to some longer and less whiny walks this week.
This bench not recommended unless you have rubber pants...
Nice walk. Last time I was able to walk home in the river valley after work (in November), I was outrunning the sun. I’m outrunning it again, or trying to, but at least the sun sets a little later every day.
Beautiful temperature after a few spectacularly cold days. Took the train to central station and a very loud and messy downtown, over to the MacDonald Hotel, the stairs, up Grierson Hill (for the exercise, not the aesthetics), McKinney and finally Mill Creek. Still not back to a full river valley walk, but soon. A few centimetres of snow the other day covered the ice, but the warm weather will uncover it. Not today, though. The trails were still white and crunchy. Perfect.
Well, the city’s been hit with the ugly stick. So beautiful last week, and now, heaps of dirty oily snow and GIANT puddles everywhere. The scary thing is that it’s returning to below zero tomorrow and for the next week. I can’t believe I’m saying this but I hope it snows.
Took the LRT over to Churchill again and then over to McKinney. Unbelievably, the city has blocked off the main path for ‘further promenade developments.’ Goddammit! The ramification today was that I lost five minutes of sunshine looking for the detour, which at the moment is a mud path. The ramification long-term is that the main path of Louise McKinney has been blocked off, and there’s only so many paths available in winter. What are they thinking?? How much work can they do in January? I suppose I’m not the target audience for these improvements. I already use the river valley on an almost daily basis, so further development only means annoyance, detours, and arguably less ‘wild’ space. As I’ve mentioned before, I still remember how beautiful McKinney was before the development, when the hill was an open area, full of overgrown green grass and wildflowers. And this is only the beginning. When the LRT construction starts gouging into the side of the park, I imagine all the paths will be blocked. For years.
There goes the sun
However, the sunset was spectacularly gorgeous, and I had the perfect view at McKinney and also at the Muttart. Decided to take the paved path through Mill Creek because it has a few ‘off-ramps’, one of which I took once it got too dark. Another mostly lovely walk.
