Walked yesterday in Mill Creek. Couldn’t help it. 10 cm of fresh snow. Also, had to go pee a dog in Rossdale, so grabbed my camera, a couple of cookies from Wild Earth (for later), and headed for the woods. Other than a congress of dogs near the entrance, there was no one in the ravine. The snow was unbelievable; soft, thick, and almost entirely untrodden. Just the other day I was thinking of dusting off my running shoes, but it’s back to the boots for awhile.

Near the west end of Louise McKinney I noticed some huge duck-like footprints in

the snow, and as I was about to take a picture, I noticed the geese. My two geese, returned from wherever they go to get the hell away from Edmonton in the winter. I’m not entirely sure it’s the same geese, but it’s always just the two that show up in March. Not sure why they don’t go to Hawrelak like all the other geese, but whatevs, I enjoy their company. Poor things, freezing their little feathered bums in the snow. Wish I’d had a sandwich or something to throw to them.

Last Wednesday, Maggie and I went to Whitemud after 6:30, and the sky was full of geese, just circling. Looking for sandwiches, I guess. There was hardly any snow. Gotta be prepared for this sort of thing in spring.

10:00AM/-6C

The weather channel is a lying dog. And I should know, I have a dog lying beside me as I write this. It’s still showing full sunlight, when there is not a patch of blue in the entire gloomy sky! And it’s chilly, in spite of the 5C temperature. Nevertheless, Maggie and I enjoyed our walk in the melting snow. Yesterday, I saw a ladybug. And last weekend, geese flying overhead. This is the ugly part of spring, but it’s nice to see some life returning to the city.

I was in Strathcona today, and had intentions of walking to the downtown LRT station via Mill Creek and Louise McKinney, but by the time I finished shopping, my backpack was too heavy to go traipsing through the woods. Stupid farmer’s market carrots.

2:30PM/5C

What a grim day. Maybe it’s because I’m dog-sitting for a sister who is visiting another sister who is temporarily basking in the warm sun of Scottsdale, Arizona for the winter months. Maybe it’s because the snow keeps falling, and the skies have been cut-wrist grey for days and days. Maybe it’s because it’s close to zero, but the wind is bitterly cold and bites right through my gloves. Didn’t walk to work this morning, because I thought it was supposed to snow, and so I grabbed a few extra minutes of sleep. Turns out, the morning was a window of loveliness that I spent on a bus. Enough time to take the dog around the block, not enough time to change my plans and head for the trails. After a traumatically stressful day in the cubicle, the snow was falling like rain so I took the bus again. Walked from the Low Level Bridge through a white field to Rossdale, the snow pelting my eyes, the entire landscape and most of my brain bleached of colour. Wrapped the dog in plaid and stepped out the door to the same white field, a pocket of blue bags fluttering in the wind. Hardly made it across the street before the dog, shaking in spite of his coat, demanded that we turn around, and quickly, his daily ablutions complete. When I removed his coat, I gave him a hug, his fat-starved body warmer than a March sun.

Winter is too long in this city. It doesn’t matter that it’s been uncharacteristically warm, we’ve still had months of ice, scarves, and cold fingers. Our shoulders still brace against the wind, and it will be months before a single blade of grass synthesizes a molecule of light into green.

I don’t think my daily overdose of vitamin D is working anymore, but the cheez whiz is tasty and the pastel covered chocolate plentiful.

I hope the sky is blue tomorrow.

Just checked a few posts from last March. Seems the weather, and my response to it, are remarkably similar year to year.

6:58PM/-2C

Back in Rossdale for a week with the continence-challenged whippet and the OCD cat. Went for an early morning walk with Eddie, and then headed over to Whyte Ave via the monkey trail near skunk hollow. The snow was scheduled to fall around noon, so I left at 10:00. Ran my errands, and then made a final stop at Wild Earth Cafe for two trail-mix cookies for my afternoon coffee. The last leg of my walk through Mill Creek was a real slog. By that point, I’d been walking for two hours, which usually is not a problem, but my feet were really sore, and my backpack felt like it was full of weights (a book actually, and some cheez whiz and assorted other comestibles.) Once I hit Louise McKinney, I was almost shuffling. So unlike me. I’ve got to do something to kick up my exercise. Two long walks in Whitemud every weekend with Maggie is nowhere near the equivalent of the five or six 90 minute walks I used to get, and I still have several more months before I move back to Mill Creek. At least I’ll be walking to and from work this week. Also, eating M&M’s.

1:00PM/1C

It was a workout, but we did it. Plowed through a foot of fresh, unplowed snow in Whitemud Creek. So much snow Maggie didn’t even need to squat to pee. All of a sudden she’d stop, get a kind of faraway look on her face, and then leap ahead of me. Our walk was more of a wade, but it was beautiful from start to finish. I’d much rather have snow in winter than not. The spectacular snowscapes make the cold and the dark bearable.

1:45PM/-14C

After a winter of almost no snow and warmish temperatures, we’ve finally received a proper snowfall. And by proper, I mean Deluge. Blizzard. Event. And it’s still snowing. Nevertheless, I took the dog for a walk, because it’s not too cold, and we both love heaps of snow. The powerline was understandably deserted, and we made it to the tip of Whitemud Creek before she started lifting her paws, which is dog for ‘enough of this shit…let’s go home.‘ So we did. The landscape is beautiful in a snowfall. Even a dirty road, even a street lamp looks like an Impressionist painting on a day like this. Soon I will be shovelling for a third time, but the labour of this much snow does not take away from its beauty.

2:15PM/-11C