Louise McKinney Park is situated in Edmonton’s river valley next to downtown. Near the upper east end of the park is a Chinese garden that features in a few of these images I captured on this afternoon in mid-May. Just hinted at in a few of these images are tje flowering trees that are magnificent at this time of year.
Eastern Path
Red with Flowering Pink
Pagoda and Pyramids
SHUMKA
Red, Green and Gold
May 6th (2015) brought a dump of wet snow to Edmonton. The morning of the 7th started with fog but soon gave way to sunshine that melted away much of the snow. The combination of snow, green leaves and blue sky made for an attractive day.
Morning Fog
Trees on My Street
Stairs in the Sun and Snow
Chinatown Color
Black Wall
Snow-topped Curves
Blue Triangle
One of Edmonton’s iconic pyramids is atop Edmonton City Hall – but not today!
Well no, the pyramid is still there but here are a few photos which feature other aspects of the building (but you can see the pyramid in the first image):
Edmonton City Hall looking southwest
Clock Tower and Flags at Edmonton City Hall
Being late April we are between seasons as shown in the previous picture. The blue at the bottom is neither a skating rink now a fountain/wading pool.
Up The Clock/Bell Tower
Edmonton City Hall – east side
Yesterday (2015 April 3) we took our dog out for his daily walk, to one of our regular areas – Buena Vista Park. It had been a while since I’d visited that area and I was reminded of 2 things:
We usually get to Buena Vista via Hawrelak Park and the pedestrian bridge spanning the North Saskatchewan River between the parks. At the southwest side of the bridge is a “beach” that is a favorite of dogs and their human companions – in the summer. Or so I thought. I wasn’t expecting the river to be accessible or any canines to be in the water at the beginning of April but sure enough there were a number of dogs frolicking at the edge of the river.
At the River Edge in April
Icy Edge and Open Water
I didn’t want our dog in the water so we headed on down the trail to the large open field part of the Buena Vista off-leash area. I t was not as wet and muddy as I feared but there was still a largish pond of melt water on the grass, much to the delight of many dogs.
A Spring Gathering at Buena Vista
Pond Reflection
Although the area is drying up nicely there were still some wet (and muddy and icy) sections on some of the less sun-exposed trails (not that this seems to be of any concern to a dog).
Wet/Muddy/Icy Trail
On Saturday (2015 March 14) I attended the Crashed Ice Championship on the bank of the North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton. Problem was that with the huge crowds I couldn’t get anywhere near the race itself. Nonetheless it was a very interesting atmosphere with the lighting and the crowds so I turned my attention to just capturing photos of that atmosphere.
Ice in the Night
On the Slope
Distant Big Screen
This was as close as i was able to get to the live racing action:
Live Action
Blue Trees
The Edmonton Queen in the Ice
Bridge in the Night
On 2015 March 14, Edmonton joined with many others communities across Canada to voice their opposition to the Federal Government’s proposed Bill C-51. By my estimates a few hundred people gathered at Canada Place to hear speeches, hoist placards and chant. Here is what it looked like:
Protesters and Placards
Not Terrorists
It was very pleasing to see the speakers representing diverse segments of our society, politically and culturally. Unfortunately the sound system did not make it easy to hear what was being said.
I was a disappointed that some of the speakers chose to take the opportunity to push their own agenda such as:
Campaigning for the next election and debating foreign policy would have best been left for another day.
After the speeches, the protestors took off on a short march through the streets of downtown Edmonton.
Marching Off
There was no doubt that much of the blame for Bill C-51 was focused directly at the Prime Minister.
No2C51
Most of the protesters seemed passionate and honest in their belief in free speech, open protest and standing up for what you believe – there were however a handful of people who attended the protest anonymously – masked. I do not believe that they helped the cause.
Anonymous
By the time of the march, the crowd had maybe reached 500 – not bad but given the seriousness of the issue I had really expected tens of thousands of people to be out in Edmonton. I was further dismayed that the Crashed Ice event (downhill racing on skates on an icy track built beside the convention centre), would attract something like TWO HUNDRED TIMES more people, a few hours later!
Stop
And to end on a lighter note…
Near the end of the speeches, an unannounced special guest, a true Canadian icon, dropped in on the event to express an opinion. Although he spoke loudly and with passion, that hinted at his stand, I’m afraid no one understood a thing that he said.
Mr. Canada Goose
[Ho Ho Ho; Yeg-Mon-Ton] – you might have to be of a certain age to get that one.
A few images of the North Saskatchewan river valley in central Edmonton. These early afternoon images are typical of late winter, with the river ice showing signs of softening and breaking up and while a lot of snow remains on the ground. With a couple of sunny days with temperatures well above seasonal average, the snow started to recede in areas that get a lot of daily sun exposure.
Softening Ice and Downtown Edmonton Skyline
Path in Dawson Park
Steep River Valley Slope
Path by the Hoodoos
Across the Valley
Although not visible in the above picture, the North Saskatchewan River is crossed three times in this view, as it meanders in a big S-shaped path below the visible land and trees.
2015 February 28 – A “normal” end-of-February winter landscape in Edmonton
If you are from Edmonton do you remember the year we almost didn’t have winter. I know, you’re thinking I’m crazy! I’ve lived here my entire life and really have questioned my memory around this event.
It was the winter of 2005/2006. My memory was that we got through February with basically no snow! Then on March 1st we got a big dumb of snow and March was brutal – very wintery! So did I imagine this?
I went back to the “Environment Canada” weather records and this is what the history showed for the Edmonton Municipal Airport in January 2006. Look at the Snowfall stats for the month: Zero – everyday!
So how was February? Pretty good (unless you are a skier). The trend continued! No snow on the ground until February 22nd and then only a measly 1 cm had accumulated. A few more snow flurries left a total of 4 cm on the ground by the end of February. In a normal year we would have more than this amount of snow still on the ground, still unmelted from when it fell in November.
So was my memory of the miserable March backed up by the the records? Well, Yes! On March 1st we got our biggest snow fall of the winter, twice as much fell as had accumulated all winter to that point. It snowed 5 out of the first 11 days of March. Then we got the biggest dump of the winter, over 20 cm on March 18th. By the end of March, despite some significant melting there was still more snow on the ground than there had been at the end of February!
Spring did soon arrive – April 1st was actually the last day with a record of snow on the ground in Edmonton that year.
This winter of 2014/15 has been normal (which is to say it feels much too long already by the end of February). But, the key to surviving an Edmonton winter is to find the beauty in it. Today I was out for a walk in Edmonton’s river valley and yes, with white snow and blue skies it was beautiful.
Ice Lump and Fallen Tree
A Snowy Path leading out of the River Valley
The North Saskatchewan river valley is one of the City of Edmonton’s defining features and points of pride.
In every season the view of and across the valley is something to behold. It was the lovely, winter afternoon of Feb 21 (2015) when I snapped these images of the river valley from the top (northside) of the riverbank between 96th and 97th Streets.
Chinese Pagoda in Louise McKinney Park
I love the old pedestrian bridge that spans between Louise McKinney park on the northside and the Cloverdale community on the southside. It is distressing to me that the bridge might be torn down in the near future!
Grierson-Cloverdale Bridge
On the southside of the valley lies the community of Cloverdale which is home to both the Muttart Conservatory (2 of the 4 pyramids pictured below) and the Edmonton Ski Club (on the slopes in the background)
Pyramids and Moguls
The east end of the Edmonton Ski Club in the distance on the left and on the right the reflections from the Shaw Conference Centre
Valley Reflected
Two of the downtown bridges (roadways) – the Low Level in the foreground and the James MacDonald behind it:
Two Bridges
Today (2015 February 15) I was wandering around downtown Edmonton, taking photos of what ever caught my eye: buildings, the sky, snow and ice. What I don’t take pictures of generally are people (too shy to ask anyone if they’d mind). A few months ago I posted about how I passed a guy sitting on some stairs in the river valley and he asked if I would take his photo. That was the first time that happened and happily obliged.
Today it happened again. I was standing on the corner of 100 St. and 101A Ave. in downtown Edmonton, waiting for the light to change when a fellow standing next to me asks if I would take his picture. “Sure”, says I. He asked if I worked for a paper and I said no but he still wanted his picture taken. I don’t really know why but it doesn’t matter. Without any prompting from me he assumed a nice, serious pose. I pushed the shutter; we said thanks to each other and the walk light changed. I crossed the street and I am not sure where he went. I never thought to even ask his name.
He couldn’t have thought that he’d ever see the photo of him, but here it is and perhaps somehow , someday he will.
Portrait of a Man on the Street (Edmonton, 2015/2/21)
YEGmonton 