The elm trees in my neighbourhood are on their last hurrah, gold leaf flooding the sky and the streets. Carlene and I went for a walk through Wolseley on what we thought would be one of the last days before our winter coats came out (we were wrong) with our fall coats and toques on.
We went in hunt of the Back Alley Arctic, an alleyway between alleyway of Canora and Ethelbert Street between Westminster and Wolseley to find the 41 Arctic animals painted by Kal Barteski. Carlene led the way. I got lost in the neighbourhood trying to figure it out, but at least we found some cats to play with in the (wrong) alley. Paw-prints led past detached garage doors and back fences with life-size arctic creatures. Owl on the fence post, whale on the sidewalk. The soundtrack is the crunching of leaves, and the light is provided by street lamps and twinkles.
The snow will be here soon enough when you live in a cold province with a long winter. I’m enjoying neighbourhood walks while the breeze doesn’t feel like ice, and the air doesn’t make my skin raw.
