Nice walk with Sharon and Stella today in the newly reopened Whitemud Ravine north, east of the Snow Valley ski hill.
Sharon brought some seed for the chickadees, who happily obliged. Met Wayne, the resident birdwatcher in full camouflage taking photos of a pine grosbeak. Should have brought my binoculars.
Overcast but warm(ish).
Two walks! Today, a walk east then west through the river valley, and then yesterday’s walk with Tom. So beautiful these last couple of days. About 3C, approx 13,000 steps each day.
A mid-week, mid-afternoon walk with Tom. What’s wrong with this picture? Oh right.
On January 12, I got laid off from a job that I really love. A job, in some ways, I had waited for my whole life. I love writing, and it was such a pleasure and privilege to tell the stories of the Faculty of Arts. I am in a state of shock, but the state of the university is dire and we all knew cuts were coming. I just didn’t think they were coming for me. (I guess I shouldn’t have been so naïve.) I don’t know what’s next, but I hope it gives me the kind of creative joy that this job did. I will really miss the fantastic folks I worked with and alongside, but I guess in some ways that blow is lessened (a tiny bit) because we are all working remotely anyway, and most are friends on Facebook.
Today, two days later, a much needed walk with Tom. Undeniably beautiful, even if my brain was a little fucked up. OK, a lot fucked up.
2C, 12,000+ steps.
A lunchtime walk in the river valley along River Road, MacKinnon Ravine, and Glenora. Once again, micro-spikes were a must. I did not eat lunch at the same time. I’m incapable of to doing two things at once. I would hyperventilate.
It was spectacularly nice. Not super warm (about -2C) but blue sky and sunshine. I’m glad I went when I did because it was starting to cloud over by the time I was finished, about 90 minutes later. I need my blue canopy.
The river itself is not quite as frozen as it should be this time of year. One open area below the Groat Bridge sounded like it was deep in mid-spring melt.
0C by the time I arrived home/10,761 steps
I’ve turned into a bit of a blue sky walker. If the sky is blue, I’m walking. If it’s overcast, I’m pouting. Luckily we’ve had a lot of blue sky lately. It’s been beautiful.
Saturday, Tom and I went for our usual walk through Glenora and into Ravine Drive. A not uncommon event in our lives, especially in this ridiculously warm weather we’ve been having since mid-December.
An Edmonton Journal confirmed what I was thinking about this ‘winter’ – that it’s very reminiscent of the winter of 2011/12. It helps to have a walking blog, but during that winter (apparently meteorologists define winter as starting from Dec 1) it was warm and largely snowless, meaning the snow that had previously fallen either disappeared or turned to solid ice.
It’s a dilemma for walking because the sidewalks are clear but many of the streets still have sheets of black ice. Do I wear micro-spikes? On long walks and in the woods, yes. Walking to the store two blocks away? No. Very much like the winter of 2011/12, which along with this year (so far) is one of three warmest winters ever recorded. We did get snow in February and March of 2012 but it stayed relatively warm.
-2C, 15,021 steps
AMAZING walk today with Tom. Aside from the usual niceness, we spotted a coyote, just below the MacKinnon Bridge. There was a family (with a stroller) about to walk into its path. I yelled down but I think they’d already spotted it and backed up.
The coyote was watching them closely, but turned the other way once it got to the top of the hill. He looked really beautiful and fluffy, but possibly moulting? A friend suggested mange. I hope not. I contacted the U of A Coyote Project just to get their thoughts.
UPDATE: I contacted the very nice Colleen St. Clair at the Edmonton Urban Coyote Project and she said this: “My colleagues at Animal Damage Control agree that those are shoulder mites on the shoulders, which coyotes seem to get from dogs. They weren’t sure about that black patch on the tail. It might just be black fur, but it might also be the start of mange.” Poor coyote. He looked very healthy and alert, other than the fur.
Always love spotting wildlife, especially when I can grab a photo or two. Also saw a leaf that looked like a tree and another example of the rare Glovewood Tree (in bloom), but not as spectacular as the coyote!
12,000+ steps, about 2C.