Warm October, Blistering November (so far)

November 7, 2022

It was the warmest October on record here in Edmonton, but it seems like a long time ago as I sit here in my home office, cold, and looking out at the snow flying in the arctic wind. It was warm on Halloween (we got more than 100 kids!) but the next day the weather started to turn, and by November 2, the snow was falling. I really need to learn to embrace the winter. I used to love it, but it gets harder every year. It’s supposed to be sunny on Wednesday. That will help. No walks in November at all, other than Friday (Nov 5) when we were downtown for an annual visit with Tom’s investment banker and walked most of the way home.

14C and snowing.

Warm and Halloweeny

October 30, 2022

*October 16 overlooking MacKinnon Ravine west. It was about 8C.*

October continues to be warm and halloweeny. Our neighbourhood has gone all out and so has the surrounding neighbourhoods of Glenora, Ravine Drive and Crestwood (basically everywhere we most commonly walk).

On October 30 (Sunday), it was 17C! At The Colombian, the coffee shop we always stop at during our walks, we had yet another Oilers sighting – this time Darnell Nurse – looking very smashing indeed. He saw us, mostly because Tom was wearing his Oilers hat. We got a smile, and Tom said, “Great game buddy,” referring to their delicious win over the Flames the previous night.

Here’s a few photos from that walk, and a few others.

*October 26, looking (as we often do) at the river*

*It wasn’t actually meant to be horizontal, it was just super windy!*

*Tom’s comment: “Why is that thing bum fucking a pumpkin?” You can’t unsee it…*

“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers”

October 10, 2022

The above quote is by L.M. Montgomery from Anne of Green Gables. I don’t remember the book per se, but I remember this quote. It’s true. October is beautiful. September is when things start to change, and some years it is well underway before the start of October. This year, it has stayed mostly green and warm but in the last week, basically since the start of October, the GREAT YELLOWING has begun in earnest.

Today as I write this, it is coolish (14C), rainy and windy. Yesterday, when I hosted Thanksgiving dinner, it was sunny and 22C. Tom and I even managed to go for a walk before the turkey entered its final journey to deliciousness around 2 pm.

But, as is often the case, I am writing this blogpost days after a notable walk. Here we go.

What a beautiful October 1 walk! 21C. Ramsay Ravine is finally open again after a summer’s worth of erosion repair. I’ve been checking periodically and even questioned the City of Edmonton on Twitter, and they said end of September, and alas, they were right, although the original opening date was mid-summer.

Harvest Moon

October 7, 2022

October 6 and 7 photos from a couple of late afternoon walks. On Friday (Oct 7), we left after 5:30, had dinner at Vi’s for Pies, and walked home in the dark. Along the way, a partial harvest moon! It was much bigger in person. Beautiful, warm, October walks along the turquoise river.

*Even zoomed in, the moon was much bigger with the naked eye*

*Tom contemplates life, the universe and everything*

September Roundup

September 25, 2022

September isn’t over yet, but I’ve gone on more than a few unremarkable remarkable walks — the usual, in other words, around Grovenor, Glenora, Ravine Drive and MacKinnon Ravine. And in between, summer turned to fall. I’m longing to get back in the woods, but these walks are good enough.

We’re headed into a mini-heatwave and a long weekend, so hopefully some ravine walks are in my future. Today, it looked like autumn but felt like summer.

*MacKinnon Ravine, looking east (Sept 25)*

*MacKinnon Ravine, looking west (Sept 25)*

*Surprisingly, not alien pods but horse chestnuts… (Sept 21)*

Smoky and Hot

September 4, 2022

*MacKinnon Ravine under a smoky morning sun*

Another early morning walk (before the 32C heat kicks in and the Blue Jays game starts), but not too early (about 7:30 am). Beautiful and a bit smoky from the fire in Jasper. During our 90+ minute walk, the temperature went from 15C to 21C. 10,000+ steps.