Tag Archives: Glenora

Do I Have Heat Stroke?

Victoria Park Trail: green grass on the golf course, and everywhere else, yellow.

With Tom keeping super early hours because of the Olympics, no walks with him this week, but I’m still getting out as much as possible. Today was a little crazy. I should have gone earlier, but to be truthful—and reckless, I left at 11:30 AM in the 26C degree heat. The tan I had developed over many afternoon walks had faded over our span of early morning walks and I wanted to bump it up a bit. To be clear, as a redhead my tan isn’t much and it’s mostly freckles, but a little colour is always nice. (I do wear sunscreen on my face, and randomly, over my shoulders and arms).

So, I walked. And walked. By the time I was finished, two hours had elapsed, my counter registered 14,729 steps (Oliver, Victoria Park trail, River Road, MacKinnon Ravine, Glenora, Oliver), and it was near 30C. I was really hot and for the last three or four blocks—even as tired as I was, I took a slight detour into a leafy neighbourhood to avoid direct sunlight. When I got home, I chugged down a big glass of ice cold water and sat in front of the fan. I wanted to take another shower, but I wasn’t 100% sure I wasn’t going to collapse, so I had a banana and that did the trick. I felt much better. I am a little redder and have a few more freckles, but that was probably too much.

Victoria Park Trail

Thursday will be another hot one. I think I might take the day ‘off’. Today we tied for the most days over 30C (only 1961 had that many 30-degree days), and that record will surely be broken in the next few days. What a godawful summer. I hate to wish away time, or seasons, but with the record-breaking heat and lack of rain, this summer has been hard on humans, animals, trees, and every other living thing except weirdo heat worshipers with air-conditioning. Let it be over.

From CTV Josh Klassen:

As of August 4….

A Perfect Summer Day (with shade)

Kind of a perfect summer day. A little hot for me but nothing a bit of shade couldn’t take care of. No smoke, and a couple of brief rain episodes have greened things up. More rain would be great, but today’s circuitous walk via the museum to Tom’s was super nice. Also, a bonus kitty!

Tiny perfect pinecones…

The Panther of Glenora

26C, 10,342 steps.

Summer Storm (finally)

First big storm of the summer last night. Much needed torrential rain, and lots of thunder and lightning. It was awesome. Early this morning we went for a cool walk, no smell of smoke although the sky was a bit apocalyptic.

Saw a bunch of hawks, not sure what kind. Probably peregrines.

12C, 11,690 steps.

Smoke Show

MacKinnon Ravine, dry and smoky

It’s been exceptionally smoky (BC forest fires) these last few days, but to put a positive spin on it, if there is one, the temperature has dropped drastically. What a summer. First it’s too damn hot, now it’s too damn smoky. I think it was smokier in 2010 but yesterday (July 18) the air index was 10+ (high risk) so Tom and I did not walk. Neither one of us has any lung issues, but just to be safe. Also, the air smells gross. Coming home from a restaurant (yay!) around 7 pm, it was like a cold autumn evening (about 13C). Definitely not shorts weather, I discovered…

We did walk July 16 and 17 in the mornings, around 6:30 am. Hard to know what to be more distressed about: the smoke or the drought, although they are related. Always good to get out and walk though, and as mentioned, the temperature was about 17C, so it was very pleasant.

AM Walks

Delphiniums are simply everywhere!

To beat the heat, back to morning walks with Tom. Early morning walks, like 6:00 am. I don’t even shower. Out of bed, drive over, start walking. It makes the after-walk shower and breakfast truly righteous.

Getting a little dry out there…

Started out foggy and cool (12C), ended sunny and warm (19C), with a hot afternoon on the way. One of the other benefits of walking early is that I can take photos of people’s gardens without them knowing. About 11,799 steps.

Tiger lily
Day lily

We Are in Hell

The morning river, looking east.

I pretty much hate everything about this heat wave, and heat in general. Yesterday (Saturday) was 31C and Wednesday could be 40C, which would be a historical high. In my opinion, anything over 22C is excessive, and the sun (which I normally love) streams though my south and especially west windows until 10 pm. The blinds and fans only go so far.

On the bright side however, Tom and I have been heading out in the early mornings for our walk (today, 6:30 a.m.). The temperature is in the high teens but feels cool and beautiful. Hardly any people, mostly shade, and the cool shower after I’ve come back home feels absolutely gorgeous.

The morning river, looking west. So quiet.

One disturbing observation, however. In Glenora south (across 102 Ave), there are worms hanging from some of the trees. I hadn’t noticed that the Elms of Glenora eventually give way to Ash trees, and I fear these might be the dreaded leafroller caterpillars that I’ve written about ad nauseum in previous posts. Up until this year (as far as I know), they’ve only infested Rossdale and the lower river valley near the University of Alberta. Could they be up here now, or is this some other vile pest? In either case, we are able to mostly avoid them by walking down the middle of the street, but that first early morning walk, I had to brush a few off Tom. Ugh.

A hot air balloon waits….
Free at last! The hot air balloon aloft, and Tom (Ravine Drive)

Addendum to this post: the record breaking heat continues. As of Monday, we stopped walking in the mornings. It’s no longer cooling off at night, so it’s already too hot to walk (especially after an uncomfortable sleep). Hopefully we can return to our morning walks this weekend!

From Mike Sobel (Global Edmonton)
I thought it was interesting that the graffiti artist took the time to add hair sprouting from the arms and legs