Ada Boulevard in Edmonton’s Highlands neighbourhood is a popular place for walking and jogging. The area was developed over a hundred years ago and has beautiful houses all along the north side of the road. It is also the location of Concordia University, the McGrath Mansion, and the best treehouse I have ever seen. I […]
It is hard to say whether this giant aluminum baseball bat is a symbol of Edmonton’s optimism or its nostalgia. Either way, it is big. For a long time, it was the biggest baseball bat in Canada, but a few years ago they built a bigger one in Saskatchewan. When it was created in 2001 […]
A house that had previously escaped my notice called to me today. I was actually looking for interesting doors to add to the Thursday Doors collection of Norm 2.0. When I saw this one, though, I wasn’t sure if it would be appropriate for that setting because it isn’t the door that is intriguing. The interest […]
McKay Avenue School in Edmonton was in use as a school until 1983 when it was turned into an archive and museum for the Edmonton Public School Board. It was built in 1905 and originally served to house the Alberta Legislature after Alberta first became a Canadian province. It is named after Dr. William M. […]
Good murals add colour and interest to an inner-city neighbourhood. I admire the designs and appreciate the amount of work that goes into creating them. It doesn’t matter what city I find myself in, I always come across murals that draw my attention and engage my thoughts. A few days ago, I came across a […]
Clinkers are bricks that have been over-fired and have become misshapen. Clinker bricks used to be discarded by Edmonton brickyards but the owner of a hardware store saw value in them. In 1927 he used them to build his house. James Rutherford built a house eight short blocks from where I live and it is […]
My Friday walk around the neighbourhood brought a few messages to my attention. I saw these on 118 Avenue and they provided heartwarming messages of solidarity in a time of crisis.
Here’s something I bet you didn’t know: more black-billed magpies get divorced in Alberta than they do in South Dakota. It’s true. They usually mate for life unless one of them dies and then the remaining magpie may find another mate. Divorces do happen, though, and one seven-year study found divorce rates up to 63% […]
In December 2019, my niece and I enjoyed a tour of adobe buildings in Monterey, California. The first building we saw was the Royal Presidio Chapel of San Carlos Cathedral. It was early evening and the light from inside the chapel was warm and welcoming. The exterior of the building was also illuminated and created […]
When not looking at my feet and trying to avoid ice today, I saw some sights that made me smile including some balloons, a snowman with an icicle crown, a garbage can eating a spider, and a very Canadian mitten. After being in quarantine for two weeks and being housebound because of the cold weather, […]
A week before I left California I enjoyed another walk with my sister around Lake Cunningham in San Jose. There are lots of different birds, ducks, and geese living on and around the lake, and I cannot identify them all, but I have done my best here as you will see if you click on […]
In September 2016 I enjoyed a wonderful visit to New York with my younger son and his partner. We went to some great shows and saw many memorable sights. Among them was the building at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. It is home to the NBC studios where Saturday Night Live is produced and performed. As such, […]
This stereographic photo viewer, or stereoscope, is on display at the Stevenson House in Monterey, California. Robert Louis Stevenson lived there in the latter part of 1879, and the house was one of several that my niece and I saw during our tour of the adobe buildings in the city last December. The Stereograph was […]
The building that houses Catholic Charities of Santa Clara has a magnificent main door on E. San Fernando Street in San Jose. This door does not get a lot of use, however. Most of the people coming and going from the building use a door at the side, on N. 5th Street. The reason for […]
Humans have invented amazing things, but some inventions are so ubiquitous that we overlook them. Today I am focussing my attention on one invention that owes everything to the ingenuity and industry of ancient civilizations. I am thinking about bricks. Ordinary, everyday, bricks. They have been around since 7000 BC and we have had fired bricks […]
