Pavan Park, Lethbridge, Alberta
The Pavan loop is a regular and favourite walk, but this time around it was a scenic tour.  Is it summer coming that makes everything so extraordinarily full of light and life?

Fleetwood & London Road Neighbourhoods, Lethbridge, Alberta
After repotting my prolific aloe vera (one of the few things that came with me from New Mexico when I moved here in my little old truck), I walked though my neighbourhood distributing its offspring to various neighbours who wanted one.  It's not that I'm unaware of the enormous pain and the impossibly difficult problems in the world right now, but it feels sane and healthy to connect with my own neighbourhood and the people in it in these small ways. Not really helping the big picture, which feels completely beyond my control and renders me unable to budge from my couch some days, but helping me feel more connected and appreciative.  Which in some tiny way must generate a fraction more contentment and love available in the world.

Another coulee-river walk, Lethbridge, Alberta
Overcast and drizzly afternoon. An abundance of small wildflowers dot the gradually greening slopes. Birds. Beaver architecture. Sitting side by side on a rock by the river. Lots of uphill, less down.

Upper Coulee walk, Lethbridge, AB
Walking and talking make a good pair. This is one of those times in my life (there have been others) where almost all the social contact I have is through going for walks with people. The walks, which are always important, become even more important when otherwise I spend entire days sitting in my house alone. Pandemic walks are a big deal. I'm sure there will be dissertations written about it. A very simple activity, but it's a way to connect with nature and the world around us, a way to connect with people, and a way to have some movement and fresh air. These are some of the most important things. 

Shore Walk, Medicine Hat, Alberta
The walk that would be the malecón, if this was the Caribbean. A shore walk is nothing to take for granted though, even if it is along a prairie river. Everyone is out today, with their dogs, kids, bicycles, motorcycles, kayaks, jet skis, and skateboards. Most people are good about keeping the social distance along the river walk, maintaining as wide a berth as possible when passing. Surprising to see three or four planes fly overhead - who is coming and going from Medicine Hat airport on a pandemic Sunday afternoon? Ending where I started, downtown at one of the beating hearts of this town, the Station Coffee Co.

Oldman River Valley, Lethbridge, Alberta
I have work to do, and painting to do, but I just can't focus. It seems to be a pandemic problem, this muddled tightness of mind. It seems also to be compounded by near-constant screen time. I set out for a walk in the sunny afternoon, with my mind so constricted it took a few blocks before I remembered to see what's in front of my eyes. Longer before I tuned in to sound and smell. Once I got to the dog park and started downhill into the river valley, everything loosened up. I am so thankful for this long, wide, swath of wild parkland that runs right through the city. So glad to see happy dogs. So happy to be able to walk. So grateful for the signs of wildlife, the trees, the river, the sky.

Pavan Park, Lethbridge, Alberta
This time around the Pavan loop offered up sunlight reflecting on water, a porcupine in a tree, beautiful land art by Troy, the call of a Northern Flicker, beaver-chewed branches, mud, riverspace, sunspace, skyspace, hillspace, trees. Awareness.

River valley trail, Redcliff, Alberta
It's been a day of baking bread and making soup and reading, a day mostly spent at home (as they will be from here on in).  But it's also a sunny spring day, a mud-puddle day, and we weren't the only ones taking a walk in the river valley. No matter how our lives are limited in other ways these strange days, people seem to be openly grateful for the simple freedom of walking outdoors. These are the things we need right now - movement, fresh air, direct connection to the world outside our doors. A reminder of the expanse of sky and water and earth that is always there. I think we're losing our habit of taking so much for granted these days.

Scenic to downtown and back, Lethbridge, Alberta
First day of working from home due to the pandemic, and I know how lucky I am to be able to do so. Months of sore-footed not-walking have to end, because my lungs and mind demand a walk, even a sore-footed one. Lungs and mind are tight from too much news; neither can expand properly sitting inside with constant updates. Breathing fresh cold air relaxes lungs first, then nerves, then mind. And my eyes need to contact shapes and shadows and colour and light. The world is still right here, as ordinary and beautiful as always.