go for a walk!

Saturday night after the recent writer's conference I attended, I mentioned to hubby that there was nothing I'd like to do more than take a walk - especially if it could be beside the Saskatchewan River. But though he had scouted Edmonton during the day, neither of us had a clue about where to find access to the riverbank. We did eventually go for a walk that night. But it was in the West Edmonton Mall (hardly as pastoral as a river, but it was a walk!).


Imagine my joy the next day, though, when we visited my niece and she asked, would we like to go for a walk along the riverbank. Would we?!



A few days later, we walked along that same river in Saskatchewan with my brother and his wife. The riverbank here is much wilder than within the Edmonton city limits. But to our surprise, we found that civilization is encroaching. A whole new development is in the making on the hilltops with roads already built and lined with signs giving the plot numbers and names of owners. Only one house was built but another one was in the making. It felt strange to be hiking around on the rough cow-pie-strewn paths and hillsides, then to look up and see the long arm of a cement conveyer contraption hard at work. The people who live there will have this view.


The next day another brother took us on a walk to Beaver Creek -- a stream that feeds into the South Saskatchewan.


The area around Beaver Creek is criss-crossed with footpaths and is maintained as a conservation area by the Meewasin Valley Authority. It was a perfect place to walk on a crisp fall morning.




So don't spend the beautiful days of autumn inside missing summer. Go for a walk. All the better if you can do it beside a river or stream. But of course if you can't find one, there's always the mall.