Category Archives: Observations

Meet Up in Hawrelak

February 20, 2021

Wow what a gorgeous day! It feels like spring.

Walked to an absolutely packed Hawrelak Park for a socially distanced but affectionately close weenie roast with Janna, Grace, Colleen, Lisa, and Kate. With the exception of Lisa (Colleen’s partner) and Barb, who was not there, these are the wonderful gals I spent my birthday with in Scottsdale in 2013.

The park was absolutely packed. I’m not sure if there was an event, but I think the combination of the warm weather, blue skies, and covid lockdown drove folks to the park, and particularly the lake (for skating). I’m glad I walked down there because there wasn’t a parking spot to be found.

*This was taken from a video, which I can’t seem to upload*

It was fantastic to see my friends again…in person. It takes a lot of coordination to share meals with people outside your bubble these days. Lots of separate containers, disinfectant and personal utensils, so thanks to Colleen and Lisa for the major set up, including the weenies and the fire.

The last couple of times I’ve been around a wood stove or bonfire, it starts out feeling great, but then later it’s like I’ve been in the backseat of a car with two heavy smokers (you know, like every car trip of my childhood). It takes 24 hours for me to lose that slightly sick feeling. I never used to be that sensitive to smoke, but I am now. Hopefully soon we will be able to gather indoors.

5C, 13,512 steps.

Whitemud Creek Gone Green

February 19, 2021

While my internet and TV are out, and before I go fully feral, here are some photos from my walk this morning with Sharon and Stella in Whitemud Creek Ravine (north).

It’s a wonderful trail, mostly flat, with great views of the curvy creek which has now turned a kind of sludgy green, although it’s still very much frozen. Mill Creek does that too. Not sure where that colour comes from. It’s actually a little more day-glo than my photos suggest.

I’m no fan of grey skies, but the temperature was pleasant with no wind, so I will take it. I need to walk with Sharon and Stella when it’s sunny! We always seem to pick days that are overcast.

*Random tiny birdhouses (with googly eyeballs)!*

-5C, 12,450 steps.

No Filter

February 17, 2021

The warm up begins…slowly. It was unbelievably cold for a couple of weeks so no real walks from the 5th to the 15th.

There is no filter on this photo along Ravine Drive. The sky was that blue!

I often stop here to listen to the birds while Tom carries on for another 20 minutes or so. When I come with him on his walks, I clock in around 13,000 steps but he likes a few more, so I stop here and he walks over the nearby Mackenzie Bridge. Because I wear micro-spikes, my feet can get really sore walking on cement and this walk from Glenora to the end of Ravine Drive involves a lot of cement thanks to responsible homeowners who clear their sidewalks and a lot of melting. He just wears hiking boots and seems fine. I guess I’m the unstable one in the relationship! Who woulda thought?

Sometimes he walks on the sidewalk and I walk next to him on the street, where there is still snow and ice close to the curb. That’s one of the tradeoffs of spikes. I stay upright (always a good thing), but the impact on my feet (if I’m on cement) is substantial.

Anyway, beautiful day for a walk after two weeks of sloth.

-9C and climbing.

Happy Birthday Joanne

February 4, 2021

Long walk in the snow to Rossdale to wish Joanne a happy birthday!

Sharon and Kate joined us. Not the celebration we would wish for Joanne, but nice to see the faces of my sisters and my niece! Or at least, part of their faces.

This will be the mildest day for the foreseeble future as we enter the first true cold snap of the winter (or as Shawna Gawreluck on Twitter says, “It’s not a snap, it’s a cruel, frost laden million pound anvil of death potential”). In spite of the wind and the snow, with all my gear and the walking, I was often too hot, but Sharon and Joanne were cold, so a short visit.

*Tiny cross country skiers on the Victoria golf course*

*Almost home (trail below Victoria Park Road)*

About -11C and snowing HARD. 15,412 steps, a little over two hours there and back.

Blue Sky (again)

January 30, 2021

*At the end of Ravine Drive, looking at the city*

A broken record, but another beautiful walk with Tom. Frosty but gorgeous blue skies. 14,222 steps but at least 1,500 of that was a brief trip to the grocery store after our walk.