Fall Dayze

I can feel myself slipping slowly into a fall daze, a swirling mass of yellow, orange, red and brown. The weather is crisp and chilly and on the rare occasion we have been treated with a sunny electric blue sky. The contrast to the yellow of the trees is blinding and I have been madly snapping away to capture this season before the icy winds steal the leaves to a watery pavement grave.

School is back in session and I feel slightly useless, but I'm enjoying the extra time I have to just enjoy 'being me'. As a teacher, I felt like I gave so much to others that I rarely had time for myself. It is nice to reconnect to myself and to Chad. But surprisingly, time goes very fast when you have nothing to do. October is but a mere breath away already. I've taken to spending the 15 hours that I would have usually dedicated to planning and teaching to busying myself in a mess of cooking, cleaning, washing, ironing. I fluctuate between that of an exercise-crazed demon, to an apathetic, energy-conserving lounge lizard, warming myself by the gas fire. 'Lizard-Jody' is winning at the moment.

4 Ukrainians sitting on a bench blaring their transistor of Ukrainian folk music and drinking coffee.

Chad and I like to plan out fun things to do each weekend. And sometimes we make up issues to fight about to make our life more interesting. Last week, we had made a vague plan to go bike riding on Sunday. The weather was supposed to hit the high 20's. Eager to make the most of the remaining warm weather, it sounded like the perfect way to see more of Edmonton and to enjoy the leaves of Fall. Up to this point in time, with the move and holiday plans we hadn't had the time to dust of the old mountain bikes to hit any trails. On top of that, my slow-to-heal radial head fracture held me back from attempting anything too energetic in the arm department. The urban beach volleyball nets kitty corner to our apartment building was a proverbial stake in my heart (too many vampire novels) and I ached every time I went running in the river valley and saw the cyclists tearing through the neat trails. But, I after 4 months we decided it was time to test out my self-administered physiotherapy. If I succeeded in doing the big bike ride I might consider a career change to the healing arts.

If only the bird hadn't been so shy and looked at me, this would have been a beautiful shot.

Sunday rolled around and we'd had a late night watching UFC with a bunch of army boys (a whole different story altogether). I needed a slow start. But I got up early anyway, set to enjoy the quiet morning hours reading the latest of the Sookie Stackhouse series. Chad had slept until 12pm the previous morning, so I thought I had time. He padded out a mere 15 minutes later. Skeptical at his desire to prepare the bikes at such an early time, my suspicions were validated as he picked up the control to find the latest episode of Man-tracker or Diners, Drive-in's and Dives. The beauty of reality TV is that it tricks you into believing you are participating in the activity highlighted and I decided I had at least another 3 hours before he got restless and began to feel guilty for not exercising. I thought he'd forgotten our plan at 12:30pm. I was a little relieved because I was apprehensive to test my arm. I hit the shower and prepared myself for an afternoon of more cooking and cleaning while he sat on the couch. I exited the shower and dressed, came out and saw that he was not on the couch. I called his name but he was gone. Could he be preparing the bikes, I thought? 20 minutes later he appeared, somewhat disheveled, hungry and probably in need of expelling his bowels. I was right on all counts. He barked,"Come on, let's go for a ride, it's 1pm already. Are you riding in that? Did you pack the bags yet?" 

"Dr. L can suck a dick"...Hmmmm...

This is a perfect example of how a couple can be together for such a long time and feel that communication is no longer necessary because they speak the language of love. I balked as his requests; to my knowledge this was the first I'd heard that he even wanted to go out riding today, but then again I didn't ask him if he wanted to. 20 minutes earlier, he had been engrossed in Fantasy Football and as he is so busy at the moment I thought that maybe he just wanted to sit in and relax. "It's nice of you to ask me to go riding," I replied, trying to sound congenial. He sensed my subtext. A small discussion ensued, the details I will leave up to your imagination but as proud people, neither of us felt like backing down. The stupidity of this argument wasn't apparent at the time, only later; we both wanted to go riding, but neither of us had actually asked the other to clarify the specific details. To make matters worse, we realized that I threw my bike helmet out during 'the big clean' before we left Vancouver. I made my way to Canadian Tire. He resumed his fantasy football selection process. We didn't say goodbye to each other when I left. I made a small wish that he would complete the other two tasks before I returned, so that we could hopefully resolve our issues.

I arrived back an hour later, somewhat more rational and calm, but still not able to communicate. Now 3pm, I changed into my biking shorts without talking to him. I packed a bag without talking. I gathered up my iPhone and earphones and promptly selected 'on-the-go' to take away the task of choosing play lists every 40 minutes. We went down the elevator in silence. Well, he moved his mouth, but I couldn't hear him over Arcade Fire. This was going to be a fun bike ride, I thought.

Outside, we were instantly greeted by a warm spring-like air on our faces. The cars have curved an almost perfect border of leaves on the road. Dipping down into the valley, the blue sky bounced sunlight off the trails, and the river sparkled invitingly. Fellow Edmontonians were out running, cycling or walking their pets. There was a spring in everyone's steps. A calm feel before the storm you could say. Winter was just around the corner, snow before Halloween is the usual prediction.

Edmonton from the high level bridge.

I noticed that my newly healed elbow was keeping up with the undulating trails and tracks. This was a pretty easy ride, but for the first time in 4 months I felt like I had an arm again. I caught up to Chad to relay my happiness. Reminded of our earlier tiff, I chose a hilltop view  of Edmonton to make up. Friends again, we both mused that it was a lovely day to go for a ride. I looked down to read the graffiti on the railing. "Edmonton Sucks!" it screamed at us. Edmonton actually looked pretty from where we were. We chose to ignore it. From where we were standing, the blue sky, wide river and tree-lined suburbs made it look inviting and friendly. It also looked a lot like Adelaide.  Perhaps this wouldn't be such a terrible place to live after all, we thought but didn't voice. A knowing look and a smooch conveyed our understanding of each other. "Does your ass hurt?" "Yes," I replied. "Let's go home."

We made up whilst admiring this view

Which picture is of Edmonton, Which one is Adelaide?

"Edmonton Sucks" or "Edmonton Socks"?

Moving to a new city is hard. There are many stresses on us as a couple. We learned a lot from our Sunday ride. We learned that exploring our new city is important and that finding things to do together that we like helps us to appreciate one another and get us off the couch and doing something rather than passively participating in the lives of others via reality TV. But, after 9 years together, last Sunday we came to understand that communication is the one thing that we need to foster to ensure that we survive the pending winter blues.

Bring it on, Edmonton!

(Note: For once, I haven't edited the colours of the photos. These are the photos in an unedited form! Pretty amazing colours, aren't they?)

This house has a Frank Lloyd Wright feel to it.

An Ox a Beaver and a Bison walk into a bar...

No more jokes for now...I promise.

For my birthday this year, I managed to meet an Ox, a Beaver and a Bison, but not in that order.

Goretex in Summer is a Must

 Chad and I woke to a blustery cold 11 degree day. Apparently, I missed the memo about summer finishing in August and was suitably disheartened. With chagrin, I dressed appropriately for a rainy Vancouver day and we packed a lunch and swiftly drove the hour east to Elk Island National Park. Initially, I was a little disappointed by the park. After 7 years of BC parks, I was expecting large fir and cedar. But, my spirits brightened when on the side of the road was a very large bison feeding on the grasslands. There are approximately 800 bison in the park. Images of Kevin Costner in  Dances with Wolves flashed in my mind. I was impressed, not only with Kevin, but the size and softness of the Bison. He was eating little purple flowers in a green marshy area that looked very similar to Twilight's love field. It was almost romantic. I looked over at Chad. He was checking his messages on his cell phone.

The First Bison

The Second Bison

We went in to ask the ranger about where to go, what to do. He guided us to an easy trail around a marshland. Usually it is a great snow-shoe trail, but it is still pretty in summer, he reported.
Will I see a Moose? 
Probably, he replied, which usually means 'No'. 7 years in this country and I'm yet to see a bear or moose.  I didn't like my chances today. I guess I would have to be satisfied with Mort, the moose from Northern Exposure.
Bears? I asked. No bears in this park.

The hike was beautiful. It lead us through marshy lands on boardwalks, through light scrub and undulating hills.

We didn't see wildlife, just the remnants of them. Plently of pellet-like brown nubs the size of coffee beans on the trail. Google confirmed it was probably Moose or Bison poop. We also saw berry-infused poop. I thought it looked like bear poo, but the ranger explicitly stated 'No Bears in the Park'. I want to tell you a fabricated story about how we came face-to-face with a bear. Chad wrestled it to the ground and tamed it using Crocodile Dundee's pinky finger/thumb hypnotizing technique:

Hoisting it onto the roof of our celica we carried it home and are now training it to wear pink tu-tu's and clean our house.  But instead we finished the trail without incident. Just as we neared the end of the path, we were greeted by three singing, stick-bearing ladies who emerged from the beginning of the trail flustered and ready for action. Did you see the bear? There's scat on the trail! one lady yelled in our general direction. No bears. Lot's of strange looking poo, one lot that had berries in it, I nonchalantly reply. SCAT! SCAT!  She cries. The scat was confirmed by three elderly ladies. They were so freaked out by the poo that they wouldn't even walk the trail that we had just completed. They got half way, saw the 'scat' had to sing as loud as possible to scare away the stalking, shitting bear. What's the big deal? Bloody chickens, I thought.  Yeah, I talk big now, but I haven't come face to face with one. I've just stepped in their shit.

I didn't get to see a real living beaver, but I did see a beaver hut. The real beaver didn't come out until later.

Astotin Lake

Astotin Lake is the largest in the park. It is a sizable lake, flanked with large trees and marsh land. On a summer's day when it wasn't 11 degrees it would be lovely to swim or kayak in if it weren't for the warnings around the lake of 'swimmers itch'. Yikes. During winter, you can snow-shoe the edges. We had lunch overlooking the lake from the Sandy Beach hut. Warming up in front of the wood fire recharged us to keep hiking around the lake. We managed to see no bears, no moose. Only a single bison. I wanted my money back.

 Again, the landscape of the drive home reminded me of Australia, it's only giveaway the red barns. A rain storm came over the valley. The rainbow after was so vivid and  intense that it made me forget the cold blustery birthday. It was a bookmark to a great day of walking in nature.

Our night time plans were a mystery to me until we arrived at the restaurant. The Red Ox Inn is a real gem. Small, quaint and cosy it had a real charm and warmth. The meals were comparable to Vancouver restaurants, but they were the size of an Albertan meal ('A meal fit for a hungry cowboy'). I started with Australian (!) prawns, crispy corn shrimp dumplings, scallions and a chipotle mayo. The shrimp dumplings were crispy and tasty, the prawns melted in my mouth.

Crispy Aussie Prawns

Chad had the filo crusted crab cake, tomato chutney and mascapone mousse. Similarly, tasty and hearty.

Crab Cake

I have had a fascination with duck ever since I ate it at Bistrot Bistro and Le Faux Bourgeois in Vancouver. Ox Inn's duck was a grilled breast butternut squash caponata, crisp risotto cake, red wine reduction.

Donald Duck

 Chad opted for the honey mustard crusted rack of Australian lamb, house gnocchi, vegetable mushroom ragout and Moroccan demi glace. Both were cooked to perfection, and de-lish.

Aussie Lamb

We finished with a bread pudding and a pecan pie.

All courses had perfect wine pairings; a mix of US, BC and Australian wines. I had too much, so I can't remember what I drank, but it was topped off with a Seppelt's Grand Muscat.

For my first Edmontonian dinner and day out, it was surprisingly fun and delicious. Chad did a good job once again. If you come visit, we promise to take you to both locations!