Last week, a house in my neighbourhood exploded in the middle of the night. The blast blew out one wall and destroyed the interior staircase. Fortunately, everyone was able to leave the building with only minor injuries. When I walked past today, this is what it looked like. […]
Norwood Wesleyan Church in Edmonton is closed for the duration of the COVID-19 lockdown, but the members have chosen to send a message to the community in the meantime. In fact, they sent several messages and put them on the main doors. The first thing I noticed was […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
As I was telling him the saga of my need to return to Canada before the border closed, my cab driver from Edmonton airport to my house said, “Your country called you home.” I thought that was a pleasing way to think of it. I had originally planned […]
This afternoon, on Remembrance Day, I went for a walk to get some fresh air. We had a heavy snowfall two nights ago and I didn’t get out at all yesterday so I was feeling a bit of cabin fever. I had my camera with me and took […]
My walk today was delightful. The sky was blue, the air was crisp, and the autumn leaves fluttered in the breeze. It reminded me of the words from the Nat King Cole song, Tenderly. “The evening breeze caressed the trees, tenderly.” My walk was at noon, not evening, […]
I’ve got a black eye! As this is my first ever black eye, I have decided that it is going to be a conversation piece, so I will try to make sure I choose clothes that bring out its most interesting colours. Today that is turquoise. On Tuesday, […]
After spending two days looking for my reading glasses, the mental walk-back through my activities took me to Tuesday when I had lunch at the Sherlock Holmes Pub in Edmonton. With my purse and pockets emptied out and nowhere else left to look, I called the pub and, […]
For our post-lunch perambulation yesterday, Jamie and I dropped by Rogers Place. It is the site for Edmonton Oilers hockey games and the last time we were there was when they first opened the building to the public three years ago. Then we saw the huge floor mosaic […]
The Epcor Tower on 101 Street has a magnificent foyer and in that foyer are several pieces of art. As soon as you walk through the main doors you are confronted with a huge, 7,200 lbs sculpture of a grizzly bear eating salmon. It is quite splendid. Then, […]
The murals on the sides of the disused movie theatre near me have been updated. I don’t know the artists’ names, but I hope their signatures are in these images. If you can tell me what “Check Rast Mayoe Esten Kame Tiket” means, I will include that information […]
I am a snowbird who travels south for the winter. When I get there I have a bird of paradise plant on my patio.
