Ah…sun. You’re back!

Couldn’t wait to get outside and walk. The trails by the University were impossibly thick and fragrant. The birds were singing, the bunnies hopping in and out of the flowers at the Legislature. What’s this? What’s that grey thing in the west? Damn.

About a half hour into my walk it started to rain. I’d taken the downtown route and was about to cross the street near the MacDonald Hotel. I had no gear, no umbrella (it broke yesterday), and no coat (it was supposed to be warm.) When it really started to pour, I fished around in my wet pockets for coins, but there was nothing but a moist post-it note reminder to pick up some pop. Decided to walk over the bus shelter anyway, but a few moments of the wet dog smell drove me back out into the rain. It wasn’t nearly as dramatic as yesterday, but I had such high hopes for the walk, and even higher hopes for my hair, but both were doomed to failure. By the time I made it up to the Old Timer’s Cabin, the rain had stopped and the sun was out. A fat slice of sunshine for my rain sandwich. I like the rain. In fact, I love it most times, but I’m tired of dripping. It’s undignified.

5:52 PM/23C

Sunrise~5:23 AM/Sunset~09:57 PM

As it turns out, it was possible to get wetter than wet, wet, wet. And wetter than a wet rat. So wet, in fact, a car raced around a corner in Garneau and sent a Perfect Storm-size wave of water surging toward me, and I didn’t even flinch. Still, what an A-hole.

5:23/14C (with bonus deluge)

Well, I suppose it’s my own fault.

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.

5:05 PM/14C

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?

4:00 PM/23C

The storm seems to have melted away…

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.

10:40 AM/23C

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.)

3:01 PM/26C

Sunrise~5:15 AM/Sunset~10:02 PM