Oct 3 dongillwalking

I think that this blog is finished, at least for the present. I'm continuing at http://dongillwalking.blogspot.com

July 1

July 1 at the Murray Hotel in Livingston, Montana. Last day of Erratic Space, Winnipeg. Walked around town and down to the band shell for a day long music event featuring songwriters and performers Rosanne Cash, Rodney Crowell, J.D. Souther, Tracy Nelson and more. Great day sitting in the very hot sun listening to music in a small, intimate festival with great music and beer. (Made in Livingston "Neptune porter")
Walked 5 or so km - starting to lose track.

June 30

Red Earth camp-site outside Bozeman, Mt. Leading a non-techno life for a couple of days. Driving gets in the way of walking but I managed 4 or so km. Livingston tomorrow and hotel life at the Murray.

June 29

Managed to walk 6 km even though I went on a road trip to Old Man River Dam, Twin Butte, Waterton Park, Cardston and Head-Smashed-In. Beautiful day, hazy in the morning with spectacular thunderstorms at Head-Smashed-In, and a brilliantly sunny and hot afternoon. Stopped at different places for short walks, viewing of natural and manufactured wonders, and throwing sticks for dogs. Lunched at Waterton townsite and visited site of 8000 years of continuous First Nations habitation.

June 28

Spent the day at the university. Tree planting ceremony. Lots of politicians. Walked 9.81 km, mostly between the tree planting site and the university. And then back. And back again. And again. Got so used to walking back and forth I went home and mowed the lawn.
Went to an exhibition reception for Isabelle Hayeur at the SAAG later on in the day.

June 27

Decided to go for a real walk today, and not just walking to a beer store that was farther away. In a small city like Lethbridge it would seem that it would be difficult to find somewhere that is new to walk but it was surprisingly easy. I walked over to Crowsnest Trail and along the highway across the Old Man River. I cut through the nature reserve, around the golf course and up Bridge Drive, a road that I have never seen anyone walking along the entire time that I have lived in Lethbridge. I imagine that one reason no one walks there is the fact that there is no accommodation made for pedestrians or cyclists. Bridge Drive passes by old coal mining works as it winds up the side of the coulee. As I recall the coal site spontaneously combusted last year and burned for quite some time. I stopped at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery on the way home for an artists talk by Camille Turner, who is doing a project in town titled "Final Frontier." Today's total walk has been 17.05 km.

June 26

Cold yesterday, hot today. Strolled 4.37 km mostly by mowing lawn and going to beer store. Sat in the back yard and read fiction. Got an e-mail from St. Norbert Arts Centre requesting support for the maintenance of the Trappist Monastery ruins and surrounding area. A golf course is being constructed adjacent to it and there is concern that this might destroy the peaceful character of St. Norbert. I had intended to walk out to the Arts Centre while in Winnipeg but time ran out.

June 25

Bitterly cold wind blowing from the west, 10-15 degrees colder today than yesterday. Another day of errands getting ready to leave for Texas on Saturday. Walked down to the supermarket and then home with bags of groceries. Saw a number of potentially interesting photos but I had forgotten to take a camera with me.

June 24

8.65 km, walking and bicycling. Walked down to Canadian Tire and bought a ladder so I could finish installing a ceiling lamp. Walked home carrying the ladder. No newspaper today but I leafed through last Sunday's New York Times and found an article about the threat of leprosy re-emerging as a scare tactic in anti-immigration rhetoric in the U.S.

June 23

Gutters today. Started to clean them out. Leaves, sticks, dirt. Strong wind blowing dust etc. into eyes. Climbing up and down ladder, dumping gutter material into compost, doing errands etc. added up to 5.1 km. Remarkable. Article in todays Globe outlining the population boom in the driest parts of North America accompanied by multi-year drought in same regions. Water. Only $1.75 for 500ml at the U of L.

June 22

Stella got me out of the house in the early afternoon for a walk in the coulee. We went to the area across from the University of Lethbridge where there is a great view of architect Arthur Erickson's University Hall. The sightlines have been somewhat ruined by apartment buildings that were built behind the campus but you can still get the full impact of the structure from below. The coulee remains as stunning as ever. Stella got great pleasure in diving into and swimming in the Old Man River but it was too muddy for me. Stella enjoyed it as she always does. 8.33 km.

June 21

7.35 km today. Erratic walking, don't quite know where, but the university and a video rental were involved.

June 20

Walked 6.54 km. Errands mostly. Bought more bandages for yesterdays damage to my leg. Took it easy. Pruned the roses. Read the newspapers. Depressing article in the Globe and Mail about the disappearance of the eulachon fishery on the west coast.

June 19

Decided to walk up to the University and collect my mail. After pausing to take a photo of Fort Whoop Up from above, I slipped on a steep path and abraded all the skin off my left calf. The paths on the steep edges of the coulee are deceptively dangerous, appearing safe but dust settles on the hard packed trails and make for very treacherous footing. I believe that it's a sign that combining something I enjoy with the business of the University is something I should avoid. Walked 10.50 km despite injury.

June 18

Back in Lethbridge. Walked 4km. From 9th ave N up 13 Street N to 2nd ave, west on 2nd to 12th street N then back up 12th to 9th ave., carrying about 15 kilos of groceries on the return trip. Thunderstorms alternated with sunny periods.

June 17

Drove all day today. Sheridan, Wyoming to Lethbridge, Alberta. Saw a beautiful pheasant just before it flew into the grill of the car and disappeared in a cloud of feathers. No walking today except around the Central Montana Museum in Lewiston. It had an interesting exhibit of documentary drawings by Ben Steele of his experiences as a prisoner of war in Japan and the Philippines during WWII.

June 16

June 16 - Sheridan Wyoming. Walked more than 13 km throughout Sheridan and Dayton today. Wild weather - mixed sun, wind, cloud, lightning, rain, more sun. Tornados predicted tonight. Who knows. Visited Don Kings Western Museum. Biggest collection of saddles I've ever seen. Spurs too. And guns.
Walked by the apparently nameless river/canal that meanders through the middle of town. First time it's been full of water in a while, according to local walkers, of which there were few.
Ate at Los Agaves restaurant with TM and CW who had just finished the 50 mile Bighorn Wild and Scenic Trail run. Lots of groaning.

June 15

Drove from Livingston, Montana to Sheridan, Wyoming today. Along the way stopped at the Medicine Wheel, a Native American site of great significance, historically and currently. It's more thatn 800 years old and is located in the Bighorn Mountains at an altitude of 9,642 ft. (2,939 metres). After parking, it's a 2.25 km walk to the site.
Sheridan's a nice enough place as well. Walked a total of 5 km today.

June 14

Drove from Lethbridge to Livingston, Montana today. We're becoming regulars at the border. Drove all day and stopped at the Murray Hotel - "the wild west at it's civilized best". Had a very good dinner at the hotel restaurant and wandered around town a bit. There's a great artist run alternative book store -"The Independent Media Room" - beside the movie theatre. Walked about a km and a half today.

June 13

Drove from Helena back to Lethbridge. Didn't walk much. A bit in the Barnes & Noble bookstore in Great Falls and mowed the front lawn back at home. Ran into some interesting traffic though.

June 12

Last day in Helena. I walked north to mall country, straight up Davis Ave. to the northern edge of town then east to Interstate 15. From there I strolled back through mall country, a universally anti-pedestrian territory. When I got to Last Chance Gulch Street, I turned and headed back towards the town centre. The contemporary part of the street is marked by strip malls and other forms of unsightly car- culture development. Closer into the town centre, the part of the town formed in the nineteenth century, the street became much more pedestrian friendly, with businesses oriented towards a street culture rather than a parking lot culture. 16 km today.

June 11

9.23 km today. Walked straight out 6th Ave. to the eastern edge of town, interstate 15. Turned north to 11th Ave. and then east to Davis St. This route took me past the Capital building and museum and into a relatively contemporary suburban area. This is also where the sidewalks disappeared. Didn't see anyone else walking either. Back along 11th st. was a walk through a commercial strip: motels, casinos, pawn shops and fast food restaurants. It's canker worm season in Helena. The worms are much bigger than they were in Winnipeg.

June 10

12.5 km today - Hiked up Mt. Helena to the sound of automatic gunfire from the Military Base below. The return to town by a slightly different route was accompanied by the sounds of thrushes and warblers singing. A pleasant day in all. About 4.5 km from the centre of downtown Helena to the top of the mountain. A very reasonable transition period from the urban to rural and back.

June 9

Although I only managed to walk 4.18 km today I did make it out to the Archie Bray center, a foundation dedicated to the production of ceramic art. There was a slide lecture by one of the resident artists.
Amsterdam comes into this again in an oblique and coincidental manner in that today's image reflects an image that DVvGD sent yesterday from Arnhem, just outside Amsterdam.
There was also a good article in the today's Wall Street Journal about the Menil Collection in Houston, Texas and the Renzo Piano building in which the collection is housed.

June 8

I only walked 3.78 km today but I also bicycled a bit. While walking in Helena I was thinking about walking in Amsterdam, a city I have never been to but am vicariously experiencing through correspondence with DVvGD. I find it remarkable that two cities such as Helena and Amsterdam can exist simultaneously. Helena is a lightly populated city rich with a relatively recent history of gold mining and the American colonial frontier, whereas Amsterdam is densely populated and immersed in the complex histories of Europe. The experience of perambulation in these two cities couldn't be more incongruent yet there is a thread of similarity that is exposed through certain images.

June 7

A day of lists in Helena.
1. Spend the morning tending to the plumbing.
2. Find a wine store which turns out to be excellent.
3. Get allergy pills.
4. Find locksmith to get key cut.
5. Find cash machine in order to pay for getting key cut.
6. Go to bakery for bread. Wild rice and cranberry wheat bread.
7. Go to coffee house for tea.
8. Go to reception at Turman Larison gallery. A very good local gallery.
9. Wander around and find Myrna Loy Center.
10. Back to apartment for dinner.
13.53 km.

June 6

Up relatively early this morning. Sat with my feet up reading the morning paper and drinking coffee while CW planted the potatoes. Drove down to Helena in dreary, rainy weather.
Walked 1.22 km, mostly in the Barnes and Noble in Great Falls.

June 5

Another beautiful day that ended in a much needed rain. Thunder and lightning. Walked about 6km in the morning before my pedometer broke and I had to go find another one. Put another 2.5 km on mowing the lawn and other assorted errands. Nothing memorable in the newspaper today except for an article in the NYT discussing the popularity of "black rifles" in the U.S.
Off to Montana tomorrow. Haven't planted the potatoes yet.

June 4

Interesting article in the Lethbridge Herald this morning. Wild turkeys have been invading Detroit, getting accustomed to city life. Winnipeg, of course, is leading the way with its downtown turkey. Got some more potatoes to plant. Getting sedentary.
Walked 6.31 km.

June 3

Sunday. Slow day. Went cycling a couple of times on my new bicycle. Sat in the garden. Walked around a bit, 2.56 km.

June 2

Interesting article about Chilean black widow spiders in the newspaper this morning. Struck a chord as my cottage in Australia in April had a civilization of red back spiders living in it. Australia's version of the black widow.
Walked down in the coulee today, but just a short walk. The day's total was only 6 km. Everything is remarkably lush. The area of the coulee that suffered a grass fire last year has regenerated. Even the burnt cactus had sprouted new buds.
Stella enjoyed herself as she always does, but was a little restrained as it was her second walk of the morning. However, she did throw herself in the river energetically.

June 1

In pause mode today, an interim period. Mowed the lawn. Went to work. Managed 8km today though.

May 31

Drove from Moose Jaw to Lethbridge, a full day of driving. Even so I managed to walk 4.43 km today. Stopped by the Moose Jaw Museum and Art Gallery, not open and in the midst of installation any way. Also stopped in Medicine Hat and the Esplanade Art Gallery and Museum. Wonderful gallery space and a great show of photographs documenting the Co-Op movement in Saskatchewan during the 1940's to 1950's. Back in Lethbridge by early evening.

May 30

Spent the day driving to Moose Jaw. As a result only walked 1.28 km. Listened to lots of country music though. Seems appropriate for the terrain covered.

May 29

Thought I had finished walking in Winnipeg - especially in the rain. But Carol came to town yesterday and I wanted to show her the town. On the street with umbrellas in hand early we:
1. Walked up Osbourne to the WAG to see the show.
2. Walked from the WAG down to the Forks. I was surprised to find that I had never actually been in the Forks but had only passed by on all sides many times. Had lunch.
3. Walked down by the Red River for a ways, the banks and walking path are flooded again from all the rain.Walked back up to Main Street by the Manitoba Museum
4. Up to King Street and over to the Exchange district and Platform Gallery.
5. Over to Portage for some late shopping and down Donald to the Millenium Library to look at the public art works of Cliff Eyland and Nick Wade.
6. Down Donald and across the Donald Bridge to Osbourne and then back down to Kingston Crescent. A day's total of 18.23 km.

May 28

End of the residency today. Spent the afternoon at the gallery packing up the production material and leaving the final project in place. Had to drive today. As a result only walked 7km. Drove to the airport, a wonderful modernist structure.
Packing up the next couple of days before driving back to Lethbridge. I'm going to continue the blog till at least the end of the WAG show on June 30, although I'll be walking in other places, but thinking of Winnipeg.
One benefit of driving today is that my feet are still dry.

May 27

Beautiful sunny and warm this morning. Walked down Kingston Crescent directly into an extensive web of cankerworm threads hanging from a honeysuckle bush. Like something out of a bad science fiction movie. After brushing off webs and worms, continued down to St. Vital Bridge and up Osbourne to the WAG. Did some chores before the reception marking the end of the residency portion of my exhibition. Walked 107.93 km last week. The reception was well attended, the cookies and coffee were a draw. It was a good way to mark the end of this portion of the project. The walk home from the gallery was very pleasant. I walked along the railway right of way parallel to Pembina highway. 12.35 km today, Total walking distance for the month was 385.84 km. Feet dry today.

May 26

14.52 km today for a total of 107.93 km this week.
Walked up Pembina Highway today. Not the most attractive of paths even on a good day. Today isn't a good day. Raining heavily and steadily all morning. Frequent pools of water on the road means dodging into parking lots etc. in order to avoid being soaked by passing vehicles. After 5 hours in the gallery my feet were still wet. Left the WAG at six and walked back across the Maryland Bridge and down Academy to Stafford. Down Stafford to Grant, popped over to McNally Robinson books, had a bit of a browse. Home by eight. Feet still wet.

May 25

19.84 hard km today.
Snow early this morning. Amazing. Although later, while walking into town via the river there were lots of warblers and finches singing, even goldfinches. Worked at the gallery for the afternoon. Ernie, the gallery photographer took some very good installation photographs and at closing time there was a wedding taking place in the atrium. In the evening I went with curator Mary Reid to see a performance at Winnipeg Contemporary Dance . Choreographer and dancer Alvin Erasga Tolentino in a solo performance titled: Field - land is the belly of man. A video/dance multi-media performance. Refreshing. Went for a drink afterwards with the dance company and Tolentino, then walked home. Two nights in a row walking in the dark, a much different perspective of Winnipeg.

May 24

Todays walking distance was 24.11 km. Strolled down to Wildwood Park this morning. It's a postwar community designed around central greenspaces with automobile access to the neighborhood limited to alleys. Interesting area but confusing to walk in. Lots of cankerworms dangling from the trees and a big turkey population. Walked from there up to the supermarket on Pembina Highway. I inadvertantly ended up on the wrong side of the road and the sidewalk deadended at the underpass. My choices were either to backtrack about a kilometre or climb up and cross the railway tracks. There had been a couple of recent incidents in the newspaper of people being injured trying to cross tracks in town, one of which was about a young man who lost a leg. I survived the track crossing and continued to the shop. On the way home I saw a pedestrian trapped in the middle of Pembina Highway, unable to finish crossing or return to the side he had started from. I wonder if he is still there.

May 23

9am, rain - read yesterday's Free Press.
10am, rain - read yesterday's Globe and Mail.
11am, rain - read last Sunday's New York Times.
12 noon, rain lets up - leave house and walk to gallery. On the way stop at used bookstore and browse, don't buy anything.
Later in the day, walk to IRCOM (Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba), for an afternoon art class. Meet with Nancy and Cam, and a bunch of kids recently arrived from Africa and the Middle East . Take the group on a walk to the gallery to talk to the kids about walking and taking pictures. Extremely enthusiastic group.
Starts raining again while walking home.
14.o5 km today.

May 22

19.41 km. Suburban walking today. Walked to the mall , then up through the community towards the downtown and gallery. Heavy rain started when I was about halfway there. I had anticipated that the weather would clear up when I left the house but I was wrong. I wasn't very well prepared for the rain. Large pools of water accumulate on Winnipeg streets very quickly and drivers often don't make much effort to avoid them when passing pedestrians. The rain is refreshing though. When I walked home later in the day it was still raining heavily, got wet again.

May 21

Moved into new housing today, in the suburbs. As a result only walked only 6km. The new place is on the banks of the Red River and is a reminder of the unexpected power of nature along with the pleasure. I walked to the nearest grocery store to stock up on basic supplies and in the process began to understand the basic hostility of suburbs to the act of walking. Arterial roads intersecting with local throughways converging with railway right of ways does not make for friendly pedestrian activity. Trying to avoid being run down by people riding bicycles on the sidewalk, even with bicycle lanes immediately beside the pedestrian path, makes me wonder about walking and cycling in the city. The river seems peaceful in comparison.

May 20

Only 10 km today but I walked a total of 106.04 km last week so decided to take it easy. I cleverly waited till it had started to rain before leaving this morning. Rain seems more conducive to finding a warm dry spot than it is to wandering around so I went to the gallery to work for the afternoon. After closing time it had stopped raining so I walked back along the river to Main and Alexander, it was quiet in the city today. I'm changing residences tomorrow so spent part of the day packing up.

May 19

Walked 11.75 km today after getting out the door unusually early. Wandered up to Osbourne Village to see what was up on a quiet Saturday morning. Not much. After searching around I finally found a cafe that was open before noon and had coffee and brunch while working on some images on the laptop. Sometimes it pays to lug it around. Stopped in at the Manitoba Legislative building to take a look but the CBC was setting up for their live coverage of the election on Tuesday, so I didn't see much.
Spent a quiet afternoon at the WAG, but while strolling back to the apartment later I saw the fire department rescue a young person from the roof of a building.

May 18

Walked 17.81 km today. I walked up to the gallery to meet Cam Woykin for lunch and realized I had forgotten to bring a camera. We walked back down to the apartment and found that someone had urinated in the entranceway to the building. Made me ponder about the lack of public facilities in Winnipeg. As I have been walking around I have seen quite a few people making use of dark doorways etc. to relieve themselves.

Picked up a camera and Cam and I walked up to the Common Ground restaurant. Had a smoked turkey reuben sandwich with sauerkraut and a pickle. Very good. We walked around the neighbourhood and made our way back to the WAG. Spotted the vegetables later on, on my way home.

May 17

Walked 17.28 km today, very fast. Started the day by having a latte with Vera Lemecha at MAWA. After coffee I started walking north on Main thinking I'd cut through the neighbourhood to a bridge over the railway tracks. The north and south sides of the city are divided by major railway yards and there are limited pedestrian opportunities to cross from one side of the city to another. In this case I missed the bridge I was aiming for and ended up much farther west. I passed over the Arlington bridge, which was originally built to span the Nile river in Egypt but ended up in Winnipeg. It also seems to be a dividing line between areas of influence of competing street gangs.
The reason I was walking quickly was because I had a meeting to go for a walk with a group of art educators. I was late. But only a few minutes. We went across the Assiniboine River and back - a short walk of less than 4km.
Cam Woykin dropped by the gallery in the evening and made an arrangement to go for a walk and lunch on Friday. On the walk home I stopped by an opening at Plug In where I ran into Sigrid Dahle and dined on finger food and smoked salmon.

May 16

16 km today. Rushed to the gallery this morning (via a used-book store, not that much of a rush) in order to be on time for the Art for Lunch series. A number of very engaged people showed up and I led them on a short walk around the park adjacent to the gallery, followed by a Q&A at my installation site. A beautiful sunny day, although a bit breezy. Later in the day I met with Meeka Walsh to go for a walk with her and her two dogs, Callum and Fergus, an unruly and enthusiastic pair. We walked past her new house to see the renovation in progress designed by the architect Neil Minuk. After walking back from her house in the semi suburbs, I flipped open a older copy of BorderCrossings magazine and looked at Meekas' introduction. It began, in slightly paraphrased form: "I have two big dogs...and they require a lot of walking."

May 15

Went for a determined walk today, 20.5 km. Walked along the bicycle path by the Assiniboine River, then crossed over and came back on the opposite side. A runner stopped and asked me if there was something special going on because he had never seen so many photographers on the street. I suggested that it might be because it has suddenly become Spring, the cherry blossoms were out and the leaves had become full. Finches and warblers were singing, and it was a bright sunny day. Megan Tamati-Quennel (curator of contemporary Maori, Indigenous Art at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa) gave a talk at the WAG tonight. Great overview of contemporary Maori art! Unfortunately, I was sitting under an airconditioning vent and was just about hypothermic by the end. Rushed outside to find a bitterly cold wind blowing.

May 14

Meandered 10.2 km today. Raining. Went directly to the newsagent and got the New York Times. Found a cafe, had a pot of Roibus tea and read the paper thoroughly. Watched street construction as well. Walked over to the gallery, did my daily postings, made some arrangements to go for walks, then zigzagged through the exchange district back to the apartment. The rain had stopped by then.