Sunday, June 9, 2013

Day 43--June 9, 2013

          A strange thing about the weather here in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, is that for the past two days, it has looked like it is going to storm at any moment.  The sky has been very gray with dark, dark clouds.  If this type of cloud came up at home, we'd all be running for cover from rain, wind and lightning.  Here the clouds just float through the sky casting an ominous shroud on everything, but gives off nothing but a little rain every once in a while.  Cold, stinging rain, but it only lasts maybe five minutes, then the rain moves on, leaving the dark clouds behind. 
          You may think I'm crazy (Hey! I heard that choke all the way to Canada), but I love the way the clouds make me happy to be cuddled inside our bus, drinking hot tea, and reading a good book.  I might say I'd enjoy watching a little television, but guess what??  We have reached the point in our travels where television stations are few and far between.
           Remember in the movie National Lampoon's European Vacation where the only two channels they got on the television was a documentary of making cheese and an exercise progarm of Russian women in leotards?  Well, the first time we came through Canada, we had only two channels.  One was Red Green.  If you don't know Red Green, google him.  He and his buddy are a hoot for about 2 1/2 hours.  Several days later, I was pretty tired of Red Green.  The other channel was a documentary of a Native Alaskan sitting in the outdoors talking about his life growing up around glaciers.  When he was quite young, one of his childhood friends and he were playing in an ice field, when a crevice opened and his friend disappeared into it, never to be heard from again.
            The man was being interviewed in his native language, and it was subtitled, which meant I had to read every word to know what was going on.  The first time I heard the interview, I listened and read with baited breath.  I teared up when I learned of his loss.  By the forth day of listening to the same story, I remember telling Richard that I thought since the kid hadn't learned in the last four days not to go out on the glacier, the little twerp deserved to go to an icey death.  Does that tell you the frame of mind one can get in when deprived of normal television shows, which at that time would have been Two and a Half Men?
           It's been five years since I've been here, and they still only have two television stations.  But they have gotten a little better.  One is Home Shopping Network which feeds my As Seen On TV addiction.  The other has been showing several episodes of a unique Canadian detective drama set in Toronto in the 1890's.  It centers around a detective, William Murdock.  He is very unique and interesting because he is scientific minded.  Along with Dr. Julia Ogdon, (his love interest) Detective Murdock places emphasis on scientific procedures like forensic analysis and fingerprints.  This usually upsets his superiors.  I may have to buy the series and watch it from the beginning.  Of course,  Detective Murdock will never take the place of Raylan Givens.  If Raylan can't figure out the mystery, he just shoots someone.

More Pictures from the Mall
 
 
Party Room inside Galaxyland inside
West Edmonton Mall
Only a few of the rides in the massive Galaxyland Amusement Park inside the mall
 
 
Water Park Inside the Mall
 
Waves




Had a great time here in Edmonton.
Until next time,
Dolores
 
Big Yellow Slide in the distance.  Also a waterfall.  Bigger slide to my left.
 
 

3 comments:

  1. Awesome - a water park inside a mall. Now that's a mall I could enjoy! I know what you mean about being cozy with a cup of tea. It's been so hot here, I finally threw out the little jug of milk I keep on hand to go in my tea. Something about hot tea and hot weather just isn't as appealing. I'm looking forward to cool nights at the lake and a cuppa! I'll be watching NCIS - since I also get zero channels to watch up there I'll be taking DVDs. William Murdock sounds like an interesting character - is that anything like the new series here called Elementary?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mom, we all know that the two channels on lampoons tv were "cheese and snow". I understand that French air is alittlr thin up there.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I wish I could blame it on the thin air up here, but unfortunately, I had the same memory problem at home. LOL There was a movie from around that same time that had black and white screen with husky women exercising. I thought it was European vacation. Who knows, it could have been what I had to watch on one of my previous trips through Canada. LOL BTW, dad just came back into the bus and said it has to be in the 30's outside. Love ya.

    ReplyDelete