For some reason, watching the Oilers lose is making my mind wander to this afternoon’s very pleasant walk with Tom throughout Glenora and Ravine Drive. Wearing my spring jacket, but my feet are really hurting in boots and micro-spikes. Another few days of this warm weather and I’ll be back in my running shoes.
8C and 13,342 steps.
The warm up begins…slowly. It was unbelievably cold for a couple of weeks so no real walks from the 5th to the 15th.
There is no filter on this photo along Ravine Drive. The sky was that blue!
I often stop here to listen to the birds while Tom carries on for another 20 minutes or so. When I come with him on his walks, I clock in around 13,000 steps but he likes a few more, so I stop here and he walks over the nearby Mackenzie Bridge. Because I wear micro-spikes, my feet can get really sore walking on cement and this walk from Glenora to the end of Ravine Drive involves a lot of cement thanks to responsible homeowners who clear their sidewalks and a lot of melting. He just wears hiking boots and seems fine. I guess I’m the unstable one in the relationship! Who woulda thought?
Sometimes he walks on the sidewalk and I walk next to him on the street, where there is still snow and ice close to the curb. That’s one of the tradeoffs of spikes. I stay upright (always a good thing), but the impact on my feet (if I’m on cement) is substantial.
Anyway, beautiful day for a walk after two weeks of sloth.
-9C and climbing.
A broken record, but another beautiful walk with Tom. Frosty but gorgeous blue skies. 14,222 steps but at least 1,500 of that was a brief trip to the grocery store after our walk.
-8C.
I’ve turned into a bit of a blue sky walker. If the sky is blue, I’m walking. If it’s overcast, I’m pouting. Luckily we’ve had a lot of blue sky lately. It’s been beautiful.
Saturday, Tom and I went for our usual walk through Glenora and into Ravine Drive. A not uncommon event in our lives, especially in this ridiculously warm weather we’ve been having since mid-December.
An Edmonton Journal confirmed what I was thinking about this ‘winter’ – that it’s very reminiscent of the winter of 2011/12. It helps to have a walking blog, but during that winter (apparently meteorologists define winter as starting from Dec 1) it was warm and largely snowless, meaning the snow that had previously fallen either disappeared or turned to solid ice.
It’s a dilemma for walking because the sidewalks are clear but many of the streets still have sheets of black ice. Do I wear micro-spikes? On long walks and in the woods, yes. Walking to the store two blocks away? No. Very much like the winter of 2011/12, which along with this year (so far) is one of three warmest winters ever recorded. We did get snow in February and March of 2012 but it stayed relatively warm.
-2C, 15,021 steps
Gorgeous Christmas Day walk with Tom in and around Glenora, Ravine Drive, MacKinnon Bridge, and Laurier Heights.
It was supposed to be cloudy and below zero, but it was bright, sparkly and just the right balance of festively nippy and sun-warmed. Altogether beautiful, in other words. Many people out walking, lots of friendly ‘Merry Christmas’ exchanges. It was very cheering, especially considering that I spent my entire Christmas without my family. Just Tom and me.
The Alberta covid restrictions meant that I couldn’t get together with my family as per usual, and by usual I mean, every year of my life. So even though Tom stayed over, I opened presents (from my family) by myself in the morning and made Christmas dinner by myself, just for Tom and I.
I am grateful for that relationship, but Tom isn’t very Christmassy. He indulged me by watching A Christmas Carol, Charlie Brown Christmas, and It’s a Wonderful Life, but it’s not the same as being with family, with all our shared histories. The bright spot was an hour and a half Zoom call in the morning, and the walk in the afternoon.
1C and sunny. 12,193 steps
Much needed lunchtime walk through MacKinnon Ravine, up to Glenora and then home. Not surprisingly, I ran into Tom taking his walk, but he was just starting, and I was near the end. Sometimes we coordinate. Sometimes I just go when I go.
The day looked darker than it actually was, with bits of blue sky peaking out here and there. It can be challenging under those conditions to take good photos, when the ‘acetylene light’ of the harsh winter sun (thanks Sting), is glaring from behind the clouds, reflecting on the snow. The important thing was that I got a walk, not great photos.
However, I ran across a decorated tree in the ravine, guarded by a magpie! Maybe it was his handiwork? They do like shiny things.
Definitely needed the micro-spikes for the uphill’s (and downhills and pretty much every path in the ravine). The trouble with our now regular freeze/thaw winters is that there is always plenty of ice, but also lots of bare pavement. Hard to know what footwear makes the most sense, although I err on the side of staying upright…
Noon to 1:30 p.m. 4C.