Insanely nice lunchtime walk in and around Glenora/Grovenor. Soooo pretty outside. 22C
Lunchtime walks are the best walks
Tag Archives: Alexander Circle
Get A Room
One of those days where I wish my eyes were a camera, because it doesn’t matter how hard I try, I can’t capture how beautiful it is, mid-June, when everything is bursting with life. I mean, even the bugs are busy creating life, right out in the open, with two bonus onlookers!
So yeah, gorgeous, warm, and sunny. This was a solo walk, so I started from Victoria Park promenade, down into the golf course, along river valley road to MacKinnon Ravine, and then back up into Glenora/Oliver.
About 25C, 10,032 steps.
Full-On Wyeth
Chilly (11C), after-work but still a good, Wyeth-esque walk with subtle, beautiful colours.
16,000 Steps
Gorgeous walk early yesterday morning (June 20). One of Tom’s marathon walks (2 1/2 hours/16,000+ steps) starting in Glenora. Even at 8 in the morning it was hot. We managed to find some shade along the way.
And man, the poplar trees are popl’in seed all over the place.
My sisters used to say I took them on ‘killer walks’ but I have to say, Tom has really taken it to a whole new murderous level. He does these walks every day, even on a -25C winter day. I have a lot of stamina, but when you’re outside for almost three hours, if the heat doesn’t get you, your feet will. Or my feet will. I think I need new running shoes.
On a sad note, the Glenora fountain in Alexander Circle and all the other City of Edmonton fountains are not running this summer. I assume this is the result of a destroyed economy thanks to the UCP/Kenney cuts and Covid shutdowns. I know there are other more pressing priorities, but I truly believe that natural beauty (if you can include fountains as ‘natural’) help keep the blood pressure down. Every time I go by an waterless fountain, I am reminded that the city is struggling. I mean, when has it ever shut off the fountains?
A Buttermilk Sky (walk #3)
On Saturday (July 22), Tom and I went for pizza, and then for what turned out to be a most beautiful walk in and around his neighbourhood of Glenora.
We started off by walking to the fountain in Alexander Circle, which in itself, is a sight to behold.
The grand, century-old houses, the fountain and the ubiquitous “gardens in bloom” signs signify that you’ve entered the rarefied world of old money and tasteful garden cherubim.
No hand-crafted Godzilla water features, in other words, like you would see in my beloved Mill Creek neighbourhood.
Picturesque fountains aside, after reading a few of the inscriptions on the benches, we turned east into the ravine on our way to the river which is just a short 20 minute walk from the top of the hill down a gorgeous, green trail. It runs adjacent to Groat Road, but all you can hear are the birds.
The sky was unbelievable! The clouds had taken on a particularly lovely formation, like puffs of cotton speckled across the blue expanse. We stopped multiple times to look and Tom said the phenomenon is called a Buttermilk Sky (because of the ‘curdled” appearance of the clouds). I had never heard this before, and while it’s unusual for Tom to comment on such things, I took him at his word. Buttermilk Sky. I like it. Although I don’t think of buttermilk as curdled, only something that I would never willingly drink unless its dissolved in pancakes and covered in maple syrup.
At the river, we turned west into MacKinnon Ravine. No relation. It was such a gorgeous evening. We were walking late, about 7:30, so for most of it we were in the cool shade, although the sun was still high(ish) and hot.
After about 15 minutes, the trail turned steeply up over the bridge and back into Glenora. The entire walk was a little more than an hour, and spectacularly beautiful. We will do this one again.
25C/7:30 – 9:00(ish)