Saturday Snapshot: Freak Storm

Saturday Snapshot is a weekly meme hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books. The guidelines are to post a photo that you or a friend or family member have taken and then link it back to Alyce's original post for the week. Photos can be old or new and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see.

This past Thursday afternoon we were rocked by a freakish hail storm. I got home with about one minute to spare before hail started propelling towards the earth. I snapped this as the hail was just starting to accumulate. One newspaper described the hail stones as being the size of butterscotch candies. That's a new one!

The next morning, I 'enjoyed' navigating the aftermath on my way to work:

Saturday Snapshot: Of the North

Saturday Snapshot is a weekly meme hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books. The guidelines are to post a photo that you or a friend or family member have taken and then link it back to Alyce's original post for the week. Photos can be old or new and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see.

Someone asked why I have only posted photos taken of the south side of the river and not the north, since it is the "North" Saskatchewan river. I really didn't have an answer, so here's one of the north taken from the west during this morning's hike:

 

And one of the north at almost water level:

 Then a bonus one pointed north and evoking Robert Frost:

 

Happy Saturday all!

Saturday Snapshot: View From A Bridge

Saturday Snapshot is a weekly meme hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books. The guidelines are to post a photo that you or a friend or family member have taken and then link it back to Alyce's original post for the week. Photos can be old or new and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see.

Taken this morning on the way back from hiking, looking west from the foot bridge spanning the North Saskatchewan river.

Saturday Snapshot: Walk to Fight Arthritis

Saturday Snapshot is a weekly meme hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books. The guidelines are to post a photo that you or a friend or family member have taken and then link it back to Alyce's original post for the week. Photos can be old or new and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see.
 
This past Sunday I participated in the third annual Walk to Fight Arthritis, sponsored by The Arthritis Society. Over $2 million has been raised the past two years with around $1.6 million raised this year. Of that, $80,000 was raised in Edmonton by 300 participants. Yeah us!!

What I like about this particular walk is the "virtual walk" option. This is for people who do not live in a location where a sponsored walk is taking place or who are unable to physically take part. Because I was not sure where work would be taking me this year (for awhile looked like I was heading across the border) I signed up for the virtual option. I ended up staying put in one of the sponsored locations but decided to map out my own 5km walk route in the river valley. Least anyone think I flaked out on the obligation, fear not! I took some photographic proof for your enjoyment.
(Pictures from the 'official' walk location)

I started out around 7am and headed to Enzio Faraone park, which is the starting location of most of my walks. Sky was overcast but no rain thankfully. Decision: go left and cross the river or go right and stroll around Victoria park.

And the right side wins (Royal Glenora the white building on the left)!

Coming up on one of my favorite parts of this trail; the trees form a canopy over the trail and feels like walking through a 'nature' bridge. 

A view out across the river valley and Victoria Park golf course.

Now, what would a walk in the river valley be without tackling some stairs? Probably a lot more pleasant but I did this set five times. Luckily it was not raining or it could have been a bit treacherous.

And after wandering through the trails around the park and up the hill, I came upon a favorite exit point:

One last burn to finish the walk!

And one last shot heading home. For those of you here, I'm beginning to think the crane by the science buildings at the UofA is a permanent fixture. It's been there like 10 years or so now, right??

A huge, gigantic THANK YOU to everyone who sponsored my walk. I am happy to say my arthritis did not make itself known throughout the walk or the day. This is always a bonus when the weather is overcast and chilly. Until next year.....

Book Mark: Danuta Gleed Literary Award

Courtesy CBC.ca:

Toronto writer Ian Williams has won the $10,000 Danuta Gleed Literary Award for his debut short story collection Not Anyone's Anything.

The Writers' Union of Canada named Williams the latest winner on Thursday. He divides his time between Toronto and Massachusetts, where he teaches at Fitchburg State University.

"The writing in Not Anyone's Anything is fresh, funny and intelligent," the jury said in its citation.

"This is a solid first book with gripping, convincing dialogue, a fluid sense of urbanity and structural innovation that doesn't come off as trickery. You see the poet here, in the crisp choice of language and even in the line breaks, as Williams uses typography and unusual layout to suggest a split-screen view of life.

Williams told CBC News he was "thrilled" to be recognized. Though short story collections don't often get same attention as novels, he said he loves them because they are "just the right amount to be digestible."

"I think Canadians do the short story better than anyone else on the planet," he said on Thursday.

Not Anyone's Anything is a collection of short stories set in and around Toronto. Its characters include an aspiring pianist who asks her brother to mutilate her hands, an MBA who builds a science fair project with a nine-year-old to avoid a family crisis and a woman hunting for a breakthrough for a terminal disease.

In the collection, Williams experiments with non-traditional formatting. For example, one story has two narrative threads and the page is split horizontally: the intruder in the basement tells one story along the bottom, while the drama of the couple upstairs is told at the top.

"I wanted to create a book that really celebrated print," Williams explained, adding that his publisher, Freehand Books, "really took a risk."

The author is a fan of short fiction and longs for the day when readers download short stories in the same way they download music.

In addition to Not Anyone's Anything, Williams has published the poetry collections Personals and You Know Who You Are. The two runners-up for the award — Jessica Westhead (And Also Sharks) and Daniel Griffin (Stopping for Strangers) — will each receive $500.

The annual literary prize was created as a celebration of the life of Danuta Gleed, a writer of short fiction who died in December 1996. Her first collection, One of the Chosen, was published posthumously.

Saturday Snapshot: The Emerald City

Saturday Snapshot is a weekly meme hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books. The guidelines are to post a photo that you or a friend or family member have taken and then link it back to Alyce's original post for the week. Photos can be old or new and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see.

Going through my phone storage to free up space and came across this photo taken last year. I managed to score a front row seat to Wicked and took this photo before the show. The seat was a bit too close for someone short like me but it was delicious to finally hear the soundtrack live and in-person (and unencumbered by my croaky voice piping in periodically). Live theatre always makes me feel alive and full of energy, especially musicals. I just wish the feeling would last longer than a couple days!

Saturday Snapshot: New Perspective

Saturday Snapshot is a weekly meme hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books. The guidelines are to post a photo that you or a friend or family member have taken and then link it back to Alyce's original post for the week. Photos can be old or new and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see.

With spring comes a change in projects, and a recent switch has provided me with a large cubicle (with actual walls - never had that before!) and two large windows offering this view:

The top right building is City Hall, with the pool out front. Not pictured to the left is the square where numerous festivals congregate throughout the summer. In the bottom right is the front of our new art gallery.

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday

Every Tuesday Diane at Bibliophile by the sea posts the opening paragraph (maybe two) of a book she decided to read based on the opening paragraph (s). This is the First Chapter First Paragraph meme.

My entry this week comes from Shelley Jackson's Half Life: A Novel

Blanche, white night of my dark day. My sister, my self. Blanche: a cry building behind sealed lips, then blowing through. First the pout, then the plosive; the meow of the vowel; then the fricative sound of silence.
Shhhh.
Blanch is sleeping. She has been sleeping for fifteen years.
I can tell you the exact moment I knew she was waking up. But allow me a day's grace. Let me remember that last afternoon, unimportant in itself, wonderfully unimportant, when I was still Nora, just Nora, Nora Olney, Nora alone.