No coat, short sleeves, and rain. At least I remembered my umbrella, which means the top of my head stayed dry while everything else got soaked. Especially my left arm, waving willy nilly at the side of my body as it does. Why do I buy cheap umbrellas? The circumference is the size of an average melon (such as my head), and they expose their underbellies at the slightest breeze. Didn’t feel like wearing a lot of clothes this morning because it was so humid, and I did not fill my pockets with change for an alternative form of transportation should it begin to rain. Which it did…just as predicted.
However, it wasn’t too cold, and it was only a short 25 minute walk down Saskatchewan Drive. And really, rain is nice. Most of the time. The green gets deeper, the greys greyer, and the air smells like wet things. Plus, it’s one of my favourite sounds in the world.
Must be some sort of back to work hysteria. Hope I feel this way tomorrow.
Planned my walk today so that I would end up at Rafter’s Landing around 3:00 to see the finale of the Sourdough Raft Race. Unfortunately, I either walked too fast or the rafts were too slow, because they were edging around the curve of the river bank between the Walterdale and the Low Level Bridge just as I was about to emerge out of the river valley. I did manage to snap a few shots, but from far away. I suppose I could have gone back to Rafter’s Landing, but it was hotter than I thought it would be, and I had already walked for almost two hours. Also, there was some sort of Tour d’Edmonton going on in the woods near Skunk Hollow. Apparently, I was on the wrong side of the tape, because an organizer shouted ‘STAY LEFT’ at me, and when I promptly obliged, a bike FLEW by in a swirl of red spandex, missing me by a inch. The organizer then yelled, ‘I MEANT MY LEFT!”
Thanks.
Like many of the landmarks and events in Edmonton, the Sourdough Raft Race was named after one of the so-called Famous Five, women who fought for women’s rights in Alberta in the early part of the 20th century. Although Margaret J. Sourdough was not specifically one of the Famous Five, she was given honourary membership for her advocacy of vibrating attachments for vacuum cleaners, thus improving the lives of women everywhere.
Last day of my holidays. I will miss the long walks in the mid-morning or afternoons, but late afternoon has it’s merits too. Just wish I didn’t have wear a backpack. Wonder if my employer would allow me to work in shorts and a tank top?
I walked the length of Mill Creek this morning, starting around 9:00, and the entire time I was serenaded by rumbly clouds to the northeast. One half of the sky was a hot blue, and the other was purple and grey, like the bruise I’m currently sporting on my shin. I suppose it might still rain, and with this heat, it will just make the air inside wet. Or wetter.
There were many people on the trails this morning; the usual cohort of dog walkers and mothers with jogging strollers, but also kids, bikers, running groups, couples, other walkers, would-be swimmers wandering around, waiting for Mill Creek Pool to open. Evidence of a collective desire to get some exercise before the sun sucks the will to live out of a person. Perhaps I’m exaggerating a bit, but my afternoon walk yesterday noodlized me for hours. Mid-morning there is still lots of shade. At 20C, I wouldn’t say it was cool, but the canopy did provide some relief. Also, it’s just so lovely in the ravine when it’s a dark and the white hot sun hasn’t bleached out the green.
Endless walks on endless trails. Grasshoppers. Trickling creeks. Millions of green leaves on thousands of trees and shrubs in the river valley. Fat bees. Fat paperbacks. Flowers. Giant blue dragonflies. Fake tanning lotion. The smell of sunscreen. Burned shoulders. Fizzy drinks. Freckles. Dueling fans. Festivals. Gallagher Hill lit by a thousand candles. Mini-bridges in Mill Creek Ravine. Mini-donuts at the Ex. The Legislature fountains. The Godzilla fountain. Long movies in air-conditioned theatres. BBQ’s. Blaring radios. 60’s and 70’s pop songs. Kodachrome. Summertime. In the Summertime. Summertime Blues.White Hot. Thunderstorms. Jugs of Kool Aid. Hoses. Sandals. Flat cats on cool tile floors. Bikes. Blue Rodeo. Eating al fresco. Everything al fresco. Gravel roads. Lime popsicles. Lime Crush. Key Lime Pie. Sparkling Lemonade. Holidays. Pools. Lakes. Walks in the morning. Walks in the evening. Humidity. Heat. Fargo. The Eva Sweet downtown waffle stand. Wild Earth Bakery’s trail mix cookies.The Cloverdale Pedestrian Bridge. Blue toe-nail polish. Discovering new trails. Discovering new places to sweat. Bird song. Potato salad. Taber corn. Strathcona Farmer’s Market blueberries. Strathcona Farmer’s Market tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, herbs, carrots, kettle corn. Thongs…I mean flip-flops. Marble Slab ice-cream. Louise McKinney Park. The River Queen lumbering down the North Saskatchewan. Lawnmowers. Daylight until after 10 PM. Screeching magpies at 5:00 AM. Shorts. Deep blue skies. The sound of skateboards on gritty sidewalks. Motorcycles. Voices on the street after dark. Fireworks. Fresh-cut grass. Decks. Wet dogs in Mill Creek Ravine. Boys with sticks in Mill Creek Ravine. Girls with thick tubes of pastel-coloured sidewalk chalk. Overheated afternoon naps dreaming of snow. (OK, maybe that’s just me.)
The University Farm, and a fresh crop of hybrid students
I walked today...alot…but not in the river valley. Does that count?
Spent the morning digging in my sister’s garden, and the afternoon walking home. My choice, just for something different. Two hours from Southeast Edmonton to the Strathcona area, via the University farm. I got a bit lost, or at least re-directed to a different part of the farm than was my intention. Didn’t see any cows, which was a disappointment. There’s usually one or two mooing about. Ended up in Parkallen, I think, but I’m not entirely sure. Just kept walking east. Good thing I brought my iPod.
Managed to avoid several storms, but was treated to awesome visuals for the last hour of my walk.
Not the river valley, but a walk is a walk. Shame about the cows, though…
A walk that was like a swim. That’s how I would describe it. Not that it was too hot, but the temperature varied as if I were wading through a pool. At noon, when I left, it was predominately overcast, and the air was cool. The sun peaked out occasionally, warming my skin, but the heat didn’t really kick in until the second hour of my walk. And then it got wet. Humid.
In the deeper parts of the ravine, it was like wearing a sweaty handshake.Sometimes…humidity feels really good, like being part of the air itself; no separation between skin and the heat radiating all around. Other times, it feels like goo. Sticky, glompy, goo. But not today. And the last ten minutes of my walk, the sun slipped behind a cloud and a cool breeze dried up the parts of me that had melted.
On holidays again this week. Extended walks in the river valley, and hopefully some different paths to explore. A ‘staycation’, but by choice. I’m nothing if not self-amusing, especially in a pair of running shoes. I just wish the worms would f-off once and for all. They’ve lingered far too long this year, and even today I was dodging the little blighters in a previously uninfested part of the ravine. To a certain extent, it limits where I can walk, although there’s so much river valley, it’s not really an issue. Just an annoyance. And occasionally…an embarrassment, depending on my reaction.
Walked for two hours between north and south Mill Creek. There are many monkey paths calling to me from the main trails, so I’ve been taking little side-trips down river banks and up deeply foliated hills, which more often than not, lead to a street or a staircase. Occasionally, an entirely new trail is discovered. I’m like the David Thompson of the south Edmonton river valley trail system in that respect, but thus far, I’ve not been offered any naming rights to these areas. Therefore, until further notice, the trail I ‘discovered’ today shall be known as, ‘that path near the third slope with the two rocks lying next to a tree with that thing growing out of the side of it.‘ Boy, it was really something.
