| over the past couple of years, i've been pretty hard on my home town of edmonton. in the way that an adolescent knocks his square, out-of-touch parents to his hip, trendy friends, i've been guilty of trash-talking the cradle of my life. i mean, the international airport has an impossible glaring error on the welcome message that it uses to greet all of its visitors - and that error has persisted for YEARS... WTF?!?!?! obviously, nothing is perfect and nothing can be all things at all times to all people - but it's something of a sin not to appreciate a thing for its own merits, and one's home is definitely not an exception. i suddenly, unexpectedly and rather ironically was sent home on business last week so i decided to take the friday off and spend a few days over the weekend reconnecting with the home that i'd left three years ago tomorrow. so many things were different about this stay than previous visits. i had no set agenda (outside of work) and i intentionally set up almost no expectations to see any of my old friends so that i could relax and really soak up my own feelings about the place. in retrospect, i think that this was the perfect plan, and you'll see why if you keep reading. i stayed at a friend's flat - a gorgeous condo overlooking the river valley from the north side. it was mere blocks from where i spent some of the most significant and formative years of my life, and i have to admit that i never had a decent night's sleep being surrounded by all of the reminders of all of the history that i've had in edmonton. to make matters worse, the weather in edmonton vacillated between unseasonably warm and frostily cold. the first day or two that i saw more rain than any other weather, thus encasing the entire downtown in a two-inch layer of ice making foot travel (my chosen option) fairly treacherous. however, deep deep in the core of my being is an irrepressible love of the winter wind. as you can see from some of these photos of my walk across the river valley, the sky is clear and the air is crisp. the wind was blowing at a good 30 - 40km pace, the breath of god moving across the shining, smiling, upturned face of the world - filling all of us with its presence... this is a sentiment that i think only prairie children can understand and appreciate and it's a feeling that i've gone far too long since feeling. i fell in love with edmonton walking across this icy bridge in the biting cold wind, the crystalline blue sky, and the blinding light of the sun shining off of the snow and ice. words cannot possibly describe the joy i felt at the centre of that bridge. on the south side of groat bridge is the university of alberta and whyte avenue, two of edmonton's greatest assets. i wandered across the campus at which i had spent almost a QUARTER of my life - strolling its corridors and pathways, walking down HUB mall, smiling in appreciation to see my beloved Academy Pizza - still open (although certainly run by different owners) after almost 22 years since i first went there on a seemingly-daily basis. and whyte avenue. without the throngs of drunken party-people, whyte is the closest thing to a metropolitan community that edmonton has. bustling walking traffic, exotic and fascinating shops, an incomparable farmers' market, and a vibe and energy that easily competes with toronto's queen street or kensington market. it was an incredible joy to stroll into the small, independently owned shops, with their unique retail concepts, and feel like a real human being, rather than a statistic for a global chain of shops - a target demographic. to experience the worldliness of these shops in edmonton was simply heavenly. in an older post, i remarked at the lack of suitable nightlife downtown. i hereby recant those embarassing claims and take upon myself the criticism of ignorance and prejudice. my friend AJ pointed me toward some spots that were new, but presented fantastic opportunities for socializing. in fact, spending an evening at a very hip lounge called 100, i found that nightlife in edmonton was not only so much more relaxed and pleasurable than that to which i had become accustomed to in toronto, i also realized that the people of edmonton are incredibly beautiful, free of pretension, and eager to enjoy life with unrestrained and unmitigated revelry. this observation alone was so very much worth the price of admission that i can hardly desire to go anywhere else now to enjoy a drink or a chance encounter. and just in case you feel the overpowering need to go to a truly metropolitan spot with ambience, sincerety and sophistication, there's TZIN which i have mentioned before on 104th street just west of jasper ave. the proprietor there, kelsey, is an incomparably lovely woman who practically radiates warmth, joy and hospitality. her joint is charming, ambient, urban and so very high-class. i have been incredibly lucky to get to spend some time chatting with her and soaking up the charisma that she imbues into her creation. clearly, i can't say enough nice things about her bar. go there, if you can. i spent four days and nights in edmonton, and they were some of the best days i've had in years. in fact, so restorative was this visit, that i fully believe that i've regained some of the confidence and certainty of purpose that i had lost over the past few years floating around like a disembodied spirit in canada's biggest city. i haven't yet sought the forgiveness of my friends in edmonton who i've harmed, but i feel like i've given myself permission to love my home again, which is an important start to healing the wound between us. edmonton is still vitriolic. the drop in oil prices means that oil sands projects worth billions of dollars have been put on hold and lives have been put on indefinite hold while the the global economy figures out what the F it wants to do next. however, if edmonton can keep the lovely and inspired people that i met last week, i'm sure though that edmonton has become, and will continue to be, a place very worthy of admiration and love and respect well into the next century. edmonton, i love you!!!! not as much as my cats, but almost! - g |