EDMONTON. What’s the
first thing that pops into your mind?
A big mall? The
Legislature building? Frigid winters? A lackluster hockey team? Whyte Avenue?
Fat Franks?
What about astonishing natural beauty teeming with greenery
and wildlife?
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| A resident rabbit |
Edmonton has been called an unattractive city. As a passionate nearly life-long resident of
the Edmonton area, I am going to respectfully disagree. And I’m going to blog about it.
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| Appreciate the little things, like sparrows. |
It has been noted that people don’t spend enough time
looking up. I’d like to treat this one
both literally and metaphorically. Edmontonians
spend too much time looking at the sidewalk when they walk (and their
cellphones when they drive, but that’s another issue…). We crouch against spring winds and winter
snows, lost in our own minds wrestling with our own lives. And we rarely look up and outside of
ourselves to admire our surroundings.
Edmonton is not an ugly city; it is actually a natural beauty. And this goes beyond the picturesque scenes
of the River Valley. We have neighborhoods
replete with towering umbrella canopies of Dutch Elms, casting shade and
cleaning our air. We have community
gardens lovingly tended to grow the fruits (and vegetables) of the earth. We have abundant wildlife, even in the
downtown a birdfeeder brings a delightful assortment of species to our
windowsills. We have the unending Alberta
horizon, which gives breathtaking sunrises and sunsets. We have potted blooms, grown both by the City
and by residents, to brighten up our landscape.
And even in the winter, we have a frosty, perfectly white landscape
which beckons us outdoors (despite plunging temperatures).
We have all of these things and more, and we don’t see
them. Maybe it’s modesty, or maybe we’ve
been taking it for granted, but our city is a natural beauty. Edmontonians, be proud, and look up.
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| A downtown sunset |
