I think I’ve used that XTC song title before for a post, but I can’t think of another phrase that fits as well. Visually, the newly foliated trees and bushes are almost at their summer fullness, which seems impossible compared to last week. All that new life spilling sweet perfume and piney resin scents, and puffs of poplar seed wafting in the air…no wonder the birds sing so fervently. Another sign of summer? The bees are once again bumping into my forehead. I love the noise they make: zzzzzzZUHzz, which is Bee for D’oh, or perhaps something worse.

Stayed in Mill Creek today, and just extended the walk south to the trestle bridges. It doesn’t matter how many times I walk under those old wooden train tracks, it always feels extraordinary. Of course, the entire ravine is extraordinary, but this seems like a bonus feature. There’s not a lot of historical structures around, so to have this in the middle of the woods is unique. Sort of like an Inca ruin. Or not.

Mill Creek Pool is open again, which means audible screams and glimpses of bright blue water through the trees. Another sign of summer. You know, I consider myself to be a winter person, who loves summer. But I’m thinking maybe I’m a summer person who loves winter, if that makes any sense. I love cats and dogs, but I’ve always thought of myself as a dog person. But now that I’ve had a cat for 11 years, I think maybe I’m as much if not more of a cat person. I guess it doesn’t really matter. It’s just so damn nice out there, I can’t imagine wanting it to be anything other than what it is.

1:30PM/25C

I thought the green was impressive, but the pink is spectacular! A hot, fragrant, pretty day. Everything is filling out. Lots of heat, could use some rain.

Walked through downtown before heading into the river valley. Now that Scona Road is closed, my neighbourhood is remarkably quiet. Oddly enough, I think I miss the ambient traffic noise! Anyway, after downtown, into McKinney with the beautiful apple trees, and then into Mill Creek with the not so beautiful (but necessary) fire-ban signs. Planning to walk a lot this long weekend.

5:45PM/23C

Walked to work this morning, and in addition to a large serving of smug, it was a spectacularly lovely walk. The birds were singing, the new born leaves smelled wonderful, and the sky was the deepest blue. That was the first half. The second half was, by necessity, on street level because I left late and had to opt for a shorter route. However, the less than dulcet sound of traffic was easily drowned out by the entirely dulcet and far more edifying sounds of Mark Knopfler on my iPod Touch.

Walked home through the legislature and then doubled back through Skunk Hollow. The lilacs are a few days away from bursting into full purpletude. At the moment, they look like bunches of tiny grapes. Both walks were uneventful, but deeply pleasant. Especially the morning. Nice walking with Mr Robin and Mr Knopfler.

5:25PM/21C

Thank you assorted Forest Gods and Godettes for not allowing the wind to persuade you to whack me in the head with a falling branch. Although the creak in the canopy was very ominous, I escaped harm. The trails, however, are littered with debris, which is not necessarily a bad thing. The wind clears the trees of dead branches, which provides a very nice crunch underfoot, and all us skin-types get a light dermabrasion. Wind is nature’s apricot scrub.

On the weekends, I don’t wear my watch. I just keep on trucking until I feel tired, which today was about two and a half hours. One end of Mill Creek to the other, and over to McKinney. I swear it was greener on the way back. It’s certainly much greener than it was on Friday, and a lone May Day tree by the Muttart is in full bloom. Lots of dandelions too, which in my opinion is an unfairly maligned flower, or weed as it is more commonly known. I think they’re beautiful. The smell in the river valley right now is unbelievable. This is the part of Spring where change is fast and dramatic. Edmonton will be a transformed city in a week, and all our complexions will be glowing.

2:30PM/18C

O Spring!

So full of promise and yet, so persnickety, so hard to love. When you’re not being brown, you’re being windy. You collapse into brush fires, you snow when you should rain, and you hardly rain at all most years. And just when everything turns lovely, summer rolls in and we forget what a long, troubled path it was to get there. The good news? You smell good. Really good. And you are all about potential, and that makes you the most relatable of all the seasons.

Long walk yesterday and a shorter one today, with bonus hair re-styling. A bit 80’s, but whatevs…the grass is green and the leaves are starting to unfurl. Two weeks, when my holidays start, things will be lush and blooming. A disturbing amount of mosquitoes on the trail but it was more of a swarming than a land n’ bite. (Hello dragonflies? You are needed. Please return.) In spite of the infestation, we could really use some rain. And a lot less of the blowy stuff.

17C/2:16PM

Not able to walk through the McKinney/Muttart corridor today. The area is being investigated by KARE, the police unit in charge of missing people, especially prostitutes. Specifically, they’re looking at Henrietta Muir Park. I almost always feel safe in the river valley, but this tiny park east of the River Queen dock and south of the Cloverdale walking bridge does make me a little nervous. It seems to attract the slightly unsavoury, but it does have a drinking fountain and it’s fringed by the Horticultural Society flower beds, so it’s not all bad. I mostly ignore it.

Unfortunately, this is not the only piece of bad news out of the river valley this weekend. A soldier named Richard Curnow went missing while on a run between Hawrelak and Kinsmen. Hard to say what happened, but I’m almost certain the river path near Emily Murphy Park is still covered in thick ice. It takes a very long time for it to melt because of the steady run-off from the hill and the trail’s isolation from the sun. About ten years ago I slipped on the ice and fell into the river, but that was in winter and the water was frozen. I hate it when things like this happens in the river valley. It’s such a benevolent space, and yet all kinds of human stuff, bad stuff, can happen down there. Not often, but sometimes. In the end, it’s reassuring to know that nature endures.

A pleasant walk today, but many dodges, including Scona Road. I may start walking to work. I used to do this, and it might be time to start again. Good hair  is overrated. I guess.

5:50PM/17C (shorts weather)