Splashing in Puddles

This morning in Edmonton, the air gives you a cool, wet kiss on the cheek. The weather is foggy, and from the south bank of the river, you cannot see downtown. It has vanished completely in the grey mist. This is like January in Vancouver. Or January in England.

I've had to drive my car on account of a "surgery" this afternoon, which my girlfriend would rather I call a "procedure." I will be driving from work to 23rd avenue and 111 street, where a doctor will cut a cyst out of my left side.

It was laughably easy getting to work in the Golf. Many people in Edmonton complain about driving downtown. How could so many of them be so wrong? Driving downtown is a doddle. It's driving in the suburbs that is tough.

Today, I travelled from Whyte Avenue to Jasper in 15 minutes. This is about the same amount of time it used to take me to travel from the Commonwealth Stadium area to the legislature where I worked 2001-2004. In both cases, the driving is fast and hassle free. Left hand turns at intersections slow you down, but not much.

It's in the suburbs that the distances become rather absurd, and traffic, surprisingly, slows to a crawl in many places. Perfect example: would I rather be driving around South Edmonton Common or downtown? I'll take the latter, gladly, and let's go to the Creperie while we're at it for some tasty cuisine!

Yesterday, as I was driving to the grocery store, I had the pleasure of driving through puddles, spraying water everywhere. I was careful to ensure there were no pedestrians around, of course, otherwise I would be a total hypocrite in light of yesterday's posting.

I have to admit that when my car tires splash through puddles, I get a real thrill out of it. Jumping in puddles with your wellies on is also a delight.

Did you know that Edmonton's population density is 103 per square km, Winnipeg's is 130 per km2, Calgary's is 213 per km2, and Toronto's is 866 per km2? These stats were reported in this week's See Magazine, and I'm pretty sure I'm remembering the numbers correctly.

From an environmental perspective, this is reason for considerable consternation, but I've seen very few consternated people this morning.