Is the river pensive? Ask the River. Thinking about Calgary's Bow River.

I got out for a run this weekend, along the Bow River Pathway here in Calgary. And it was a beautiful run for this late in the season. But I wanted to share with you one of my favourite little things about the Bow River here in town.

Along the banks of the Bow and Elbow river, affixed to stormwater outfall signs, an artist group in Calgary poses questions about the river.

And you can't help but ponder the answers when you see them.

The signs direct you to www.asktheriver.infohttp://www.asktheriver.info/, where you can get a little bit of backstory. The artists in question? Broken City Lab. and the signs were put up as a part of Calgary's Watershed+ Program. And you can click those links if you want to learn more about all that.

As for me, I'm just glad the signs are there, with their understated questions.

I typically run without music or company, just the sounds of my slightly wheezing breath and my own thoughts. I love that running can be a somewhat meditative process for me (in a way that sitting still often can't), and these questions can sometimes be the prompts you need for some self reflection.

Why not rephrase the questions. Am I dramatic? Am I hopeless? Am I breaking? and that's enough to give you something to ruminate on for the next few kilometers.

So next time you're out along the Bow or Elbow River paths, keep an eye out for these signs.

Market Collective's 7th Anniversary August 28-30 2015

Do you have any plans for this weekend yet?

Why not come down to the East Village and celebrate Market Collective's 7th Anniversary.

What's Market Collective you say? Well you could just watch the video below. Or if you feel like reading, in short, it's an independent market intended to support local artisans and community building through the arts.

Market Collective from reuben bullock on Vimeo.

I stumbled across the market on Instagram a few months back, and have been volunteering at it since then. Because volunteering lets me go there and take in all of the artsy goodness, without shopping myself broke.

And I will be volunteering there again this Friday and Saturday, serving up local craft beer at one of 4 bars at this weekend's market.

That's right, I said beer, and bar.

This weekend is the 7th Anniversary market, so they are stepping out of their usual Chinese Cultural Center and heading down to the East Village River Walk. They'll have a main tent, featuring over 100 local artisans, pretty much all of Calgary's food trucks will be there. There will be two stages, one featuring DJs and one featuring bands, and 4 bar areas, although the whole market is liquor licensed, so you can grab a beer and enjoy it while you shop. There's also a photoboth, and a bicycle scavenger hunt.

Pretty flipping awesome sounding isn't it? And admission to the market is only $5 (and is good for the whole weekend in case you need to come back and shop some more).

At the last  market in July, I brought my camera to my volunteer shift, and did a walk around.

And if you think that video is jam pack full of pinterest worthy goods, just wait for the much larger market this weekend.

So if you're not convinced, here's 5 great reasons to attend Market Collective.

1) How often do you get to order craft beer, riverside, and then fill up on some of Calgary's best food trucks food?

2) When else does $5 dollars get you live music, all weekend long.

3) As much as I hate to say it, my friend Lisa pointed out we are 4 months away from Xmas today, so why not get a head start on gift shopping, while supporting local artisans?

4) Men, I cannot stress this enough, visiting Market Collective is absolutely the best date idea ever, so call that girl you've been texting back and forth all week and invite her to the market this weekend. You can thank me later.

5) Even if you are on a budget, go there and shop with your eyes, chat with the artists, Instagram your favourite vendors, and maybe find a little extra creativity in your own life, and then go home and spray paint something gold and neon!

Calgary Hail Storm August 2015

I had really short sleeps the last two nights, so when I finished up what I was working on in the lab today around 2, I thought maybe I should head home early and have a nap.

I'm really glad I did,  because the 5PM commute was interrupted today by a massive hail and thunderstorm, flooding streets, damaging vehicles and leaving many without power.

Me? I was rudely awoken from my nap by a freakishly large bomb of thunder. And I say bomb, because in my sleepish state I woke out of bed to rush to the window to see what happened. Only to see clear skies, with a wall of grey on the horizon and moving fast. Moments later I heard my landlord shouting at someone to move their car quick.

Then the rain came in sideways. After rushing downstairs to late to move my car without getting soaked by rain and pummeled by hail, I grabbed my camera and filmed a little bit of the storm.

Hopefully all of you guys here in Alberta stayed safe and dry.

Hockey Superstitions and the Calgary Flames

When my brother Mark was playing hockey growing up (btw happy belated 24th birthday brother!), and it was an important game, my mom would ride the elevator at the arena up and down for the last couple minutes of the 3rd period. I guess it originated with the tension in the arena being too high during a particularly close playoff game, but after his team began scoring game winning goals while my mom was in the elevator, it became an important superstition. And any time his time was tied going into the final minutes of the game, Eva would head for the nearest elevator.

Interestingly, my mom has also been banned from my cousin Zach's hockey games a number of times over the years. Apparently they just can't win if she's watching, and the serious hockey family that the Senecals are, well needless to say, although they appreciate that my mom just want's to support her nephew, they can't take the risk.

Unfortunately it would seem the bad luck might run in the family. When Kevin and I started dating, we went through this horrible dry spell where he absolutely could not score a goal in any hockey game I was watching him play. Any game that I'd miss? He'd call me afterwards to inform me that he'd scored 4 or 5 goals. Even worse? During one game I attended, he got on the ice for his first shift only to have his skate break about 30 seconds in, and then spend the rest of the game sitting on the bench. Thankfully we eventually got over the hump, and I can confidently watch him play without feeling like a jinx.

Now this brings me to the Calgary Flames, and an unfortunate trend.

The last season the Flames made the playoffs? - 2009

I moved to Calgary in 2010.

During the 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 seasons, I attended Flames games live, and although they usually won those games, they did not make the playoffs.

This year I did not make it to any games, and poof! Despite a poor prognosis at the beginning of the season, Flames make the playoffs.

Alright.... but it couldn't just be me could it?

So this enter round one of the playoffs - Game 1? I missed it, and they won.

Game 2 - I wore my jersey all day and watched the game hit up a bar to watch the game.... They lost.

Game 3 and Game 4 - did not watch, Flames win!

Game 5 - wears jersey all day, listens to game on radio in the lab.... Flames lose.

So Saturday night I was understandable anxious to put on my jersey and head over to A.J.'s to watch the game.

And when the Canucks scored 3 goals in about as many shots early in the first, I buried my eyes on Kevin's shoulder and told him I was going to have to keep my eyes closed for the rest of the game.

But I never should have doubted myself! I'm not a jinx at all. Flames turned that game around and won it spectacularly 7 goals to 4.

And I proudly sported my jersey as we walked down to 17th Ave to join in the Red Mile, with what seemed like most of the rest of Calgary.

Oh and I'm pretty certain I have some video from my phone.... and that the audio is 90% me wooing, but maybe I'll share it in time for Duck Hunting Season!

Seriously Good Soup - Oak Tree Tavern

This past week, Kevin and I met friends for dinner at the Oak Tree Tavern in Kensington. I had been to the small, second story, pub before, for drinks during Salsa Fest, but never eaten there before.

Seriously, I cannot recommend the Oak Tree enough, everyone's food looked amazing. Big portions at reasonable prices. And my meal....Well lets just say, I've been thinking about it all week since.

I know, I know... the picture makes the soup look like a bowl of slop.

But let me wax poetic about it.

First of all the name of that soup,

Dill Pickle Soup.

And I love dill pickles. I can tuck into a jar of pickles the way most girls do into ben and jerry's.

But dill pickle soup, I'll admit, I was apprehensive, and asked our server about it. At her recommendation I gave it a try.

I guess I would describe it as being essentially a potato chowder with a fatty and pickle-y taste, complete with whole pieces of pickle. And over all delicious.

Maybe I'm not selling this soup as best as I can. Maybe you just need to be there to try it for yourself. Either way, you can bet I'm going to be trying to get my hands on the recipe, or at least I'll be dragging Kevin back to the Oak Tree ASAP.

Now onto the sandwich, it was the Oak Tree BLTC, a perfect combo of pesto marinated bocconcini cheese, smoked bacon, kale and tomato. Top it off with a reduced balsamic vinegar aioli and throw the whole thing on a fresh ciabatta bun and you've got one hell of a good sandwich.

And that whole meal (which I devoured without taking time to breath) was only 13 dollars.

Have you eaten anything that good lately?

Art Battle 219 - Calgary

Last week, my friend Sarah (@setulk) and I went out to watch some live competitive painting at The Hifi Club here in Calgary, and it was amazing. That's right this was like sport painting, under the name Art Battle. If you've never been to one before, check out their website, there may be one in your area.

In the mean time, let me tell you all about it!

The format, 12 local artists compete to be the winner of the evening. There are 2, 20 minute semifinal rounds (6 painters each), followed by the championship round, pitting the top two artists from each of the first two rounds against each other. Who decides the winner? the audience live votes using their smart phones for their favourites at the end of each round. In addition all of the art produced is for sale via silent auction.

All artists get the same materials, the same canvas, and the same primary colours of acrylic paint. They are all welcome to bring whatever tools the need to create their masterpieces.

It was pretty amazing to walk around the painters during the 20 minute rounds, and watch as their canvases came to life with each lap around the easels.

What truly amazed me the most however, was how 12 people, with the exact same paints could create works that looked so unique. Not only in subject matter but also in technique. Had you not known, you never would have guessed all of the canvases were created with the same materials. And certainly not in 20 minutes flat!

Here's a few of the other works created last night.

Apparently the next Art Battle Calgary is confirmed for March 11th, and I can't wait to go again! In the mean time, I went home last night itching to do some painting myself. So today I picked up a pair of canvases for the weekend!

A little video from the Calgary Zoo

I visited the Calgary Zoo this summer with Kevin and his family when his parents were in town for the August long weekend. I captured some little bits of video and strung them together for you all to see.

If you would like to see some of my favourite photos from the day, you can find them over on my photo blog @Turner_SRPhotography .

But seriously, don't you love those penguins? they actually marched in a line!

An unexpected dip in the Elbow River

Saturday afternoon was a scorcher here in Calgary, and the best way to beat the heat is definitely to get yourself out onto one of the rivers for a float. I've floated the Elbow River before, and it is such a relaxing ride, truly one of my favourite summer things in Calgary (although it doesn't quite make up for how much I miss cottage country back in Ontario). This time however we took an unexpected dip in the river.

I was floating with my friend Sarah (@setulk) and we were both on one of those large circular rafts. Like the highly educated young women we are, we forgot our paddles at home. Despite the lazy nature of the Elbow River, paddles are still a necessity to keep you off the shores and out of trees. So we improvised, I spotted a solid long branch, and we poled our raft along, Venetian style. Much to the ammusement of our fellow rafters, I might add, we got lots of comments about our 'paddle'. So many so that we began to boast and brag about the superior nature of the wooden branch for raft navigation.

Maybe we shouldn't have bragged.

Just after passing under the 4th St SW bridge, there is a small section of what likely can't actually be called rapids, but I'll call them rapids for the sake of excitement. A propper raft ahead of us (with propper paddles) went through no problem. As we entered the stretch however, we were quickly swept towards some low hanging branches. In an effort to use our stick to push off the shore and avoid the brush we capsized our raft and were dumped into the river.

My first thought? The Elbow River is pretty shallow, just stand up.

Nope, the current in some spots is pretty strong, standing up just wasn't an option. So instead I assumed the position we were taught when I did white water rafting in Colorado a few years ago. Sit your but down, bring your knees up in front of you and steer with your hands, face downstream and ride it out. (If you're a bylaw abiding Calgarian, the life jacket you're wearing makes this a lot easier...if you're like me, just rely on your core strength or something). So ride it out I did, getting swept maybe 150meters downstream and eventually catching up with the raft. Sarah trailed behind me through the water.

The whole dip in was actually quite a lot of fun, once you figured out how best not to smash your legs/knees on the rocky bottom of the river. And I was laughing as I climbed back onto the raft. Until Sarah shouted, "the Keys!"

You see the thing about rafting is you park one car down stream, then drive a second one upstream. Then ride the river down to the first car and drive back to the second.

Which means that while (if you're smart) you can leave your wallet and phone in the car, and not risk loosing them in the water, you do need to have car keys with you. Ours were in a little zip lock bag, sitting in the middle of our raft, underneath my tank top.

That is where they were sitting until our raft flipped over.

Somehow tho, the gods of the Elbow River were feeling generous that day, and just as we began to panic about having lost the keys I spotted my shirt floating towards us. And then Sarah spotted the keys in the little plastic bag floating ahead of it. Somehow the river was returning all it had taken from us. We even got our paddle/branch back...much good that it did us in preventing such mishaps.

Over all it was a great day of sunshine and water and mishaps. But if you're going to go rafting any time in the near future, make sure your keys are connected to you somehow. While the river may have been generous to us, she is a fickly beast and will likely not be so kind the next time.

What happened to Calgary's Love Locks?

Last winter I needed a little pick me up, some sunshine and fresh air. So I picked a sunny (yet frigidly cold) day to take a break from the lab and enjoy a walk along the Bow River. The river is one of my favourite places in Calgary, might have something to do with growing up in a river city... or my love for Bruce Springsteen.

I parked at the bottom of Shaganapi, and headed out on the Harry Boothman Bridge to Edworthy Park to snap some photos. If you want to see more of the photos I shot that day you can head over to me new photo blog atTurner_SR Photography.

On the bridge, I quickly noticed the presence of some love locks.

Just a few, but I was thrilled to see them.

I first learned about love locks during a 2011 trip to Budapest. On a walking tour we visited a square near the Danube. Our guide explained that the locks on the fencing were put there by young couples in love. If the couple promised to stay together forever, they would lock the lock, and toss the key in the river. If the couple was maybe something more temporary, say a summer fling, they would keep the keys. And if, our guide joked, it was maybe only a one night thing, you could use a combination lock.

The locks were in my opinion a beautiful expression of love. Travel blogger Cheryl Howard was inspired enough to take a number of stunning photos of some of the locks.

Since then, I have stumble upon love locks on bridges and fences all across Europe. This chilly day last winter was the first time I'd seen any around Calgary, let alone Canada. Although Vancouver does have a bridge I believe with locks.

Oh should I say 'did'.

A quick google reveals the locks have been removed... possibly to find a new home elsewhere.

Well it would appear our locks have gone the same way. Despite a meager start with only a few locks over the winter. Last month I was pleased to see they had multiplied.

This week however, I went for a run along the bow river pathway only to see the locks had been cut away.

I wonder what that means for the eternal love of TW and DM?

It's sad to see them go before the tradition really got a chance to take off. While I understand there are many points of view on the appropriateness of putting locks on public/city property. And in extreme cases the weight of the locks has even lead to damage to the bridges supporting them (see the famous Pont des Arts bridge in Paris). However, Calgary could  take a page out of Budapest, and many other city's books. With a piece of public sculpture near the river intended to be adorned by locks. Like the lock trees in  Namsan Seoul Tower.

So @Nenshi? What do you think? Why not promote undying love stories in Calgary, and give Kevin and I a place to put our lock where it would never be cut down?

Want to see a place for love locks in Calgary? Why not send Mayor Naheed Nenshi, or your favourite city council member a tweet?

50th Anniversary Calgary Marathon Jugo Juice 10km

I woke up this morning at 6am, thru on my running gear and hiked down 17th ave to the Stampede grounds.

I arrived just in time to see the start of the 50th Calgary Marathon, as well as the halfers and the ultras.

It was pretty inspiring to watch these athletes take off, maybe one of these gentlemen is Kip Kangogo who set a new record for the Calgary Marathon today, coming in at 2:19:47.

New marathon course record by @KipKangogo 2:19:47 (unofficial clocking) #runcalgary
— Calgary Marathon (@CalgaryMarathon) June 1, 2014

Unbelievable, that's faster than my half marathon time last summer. Speaking of half marathons, I was actually supposed to be running in this pack. Well at the back of it, I was registered for the Half Marathon today. But I just haven't been doing any long runs lately, so I thought the best call was to drop down to the 10km when I picked up my race package yesterday.

So I suited up in my Sea Wheeze shorts, which are pretty awesome this year. Laced up and tucked into the 10km.

It was a beautiful morning for running, sunny and maybe 8-10 degrees, perfect weather for the nearly 15 thousand runners out today for races from 5-50km in length.

Although the race was pretty crowded, lots of darting in and out throughout the full race, I still put up a personal best. My garmin had me at 1h3min crossing the finish line. I have to say I was proud. I'm doing another 10km race at home in the Sault next Sunday, and plan to come in under an hour.

In the mean time, I'm enjoying an incredibly lazy Sunday Afternoon! How was your weekend!!

CBC Calgary Reads Book Sale 2014

My mother is going to kill me when she reads this post.

A constant theme on this blog is that 'I have a thing for books'. Like a serious love affair. Some people might even say a hoarder like tendency. But I just can't get enough of them. Reading them and buying them. Since moving to Calgary, with about 6 boxes full of books, my collection has grown to well over 300, of which I'd guess I've read 95%. Last night I even took the time to begin to log all my books into Good Reads.

This morning, before 10AM I added another 25 books to that collection. Going to the CBC Calgary Reads Book Sale may have been a bad life choice.

So while I may now be drowning under a pile of books to read this summer (did I say drowning, because I really can't think of anything I'd enjoy more), I'm going to have to insist you get yourself down to the book sale and indulge yourself. All the while supporting a good cause.

Details:

Where: Calgary Curling Club 720 3ST NW
When: Today May 24 until midnight
What: Pretty much all the books.
How Much: $3 hard covers and $2 soft covers. Plus $2 admission.

Things to do in Calgary - Nose Hill

The other day, Kev and I enjoyed some beautiful fall weather, and went for a walk around Nose Hill. If you haven't been up there before, whether to pick nick in the summer, bike in the spring or trail run through the fall, you're missing out. Here's a few picks of the beautiful view.

Saskatoon Berry Picking

On the long weekend, right before heading off to run the Calgary Color Me Rad, I headed out berry picking with our lab tech Mona (@celli_beans).

We headed down the Deerfoot and out of town to Okotoks and the Saskatoon Berry Farm, to U-pick ourselves some berries. I had never had a fresh Saskatoon berry before (think blueberry crossed with cranberry) and was looking forward to picking some.

The berries grow on bushes, and we got there right at the peak of the season, as they were getting nice and ripe and purple.

It wasn't long before we had filled up our buckets ($14 dollars worth of berries each). I took mine home to make into Saskatoon Berry Jam.

How else do you enjoy Saskatoon Berries?

St. Patrick's Day Road Race 2013

Last Monday as I was sitting at the myograph in the lab, browsing the internet while running experiments, I spontaneously signed myself up (last minute) for the St. Partick's Day 10km Road Race. Although I haven't been doing a tonne of running lately, I thought I'd have no problem with 10km. The weather had been beautiful for the last week, it felt like spring was on the way and I thought, why not.

The second I finished registering, and payed for it, Nature decided to screw me over. The beautiful spring weather began heading out of town, and by Saturday night I was wondering what I had been thinking.

Source: theweathernetwork.com via Sara on Pinterest

This was the weather I woke up to, at 7am Sunday morning. Feels like -22'C (that's -7.6'F), with gusting winds and tonnes of snow. Needless to say, the race I had happy-go-lucky signed up for, was turning out to be one I'd not forget.

I don't do a lot of winter running outside. Correction I really don't do any. Living here in Calgary, it's possible to run sporadically outside in winter only during chinooks when the sun is out, the paths are clear and it's relatively quite warm. I have never run in actual snow. So I made the choice and decided I'd rather over dress for the race than underdress!

Bundled up in 3 pairs of pants (lulu leggings, a pair of loose pj's, lulu track pants). 3 shirts (underarmour cold gear, and two long sleeve lulu's) 2 pairs of socks (regular and soccer socks) a wind breaker and a poofy vest, plus running gloves, a big pair of mittens and a thin cotton scarf, I was ready to brave the cold. By the end of the race I'd be carrying an extra 9.2lbs of cloths, sweat and snow with me (I know because I weighed myself with and without as soon as I got home)!

Trying to keep warm before the race, runner's were invited to dress up for St. Pats, I opted in favour of dressing only to keep warm. As for the run itself, by the end of the first kilometer I had a real idea of how much more effort running on loose snow is. Despite the beautiful route along the Elbow River reservoir, I spent little of the race enjoying the scenery. You had to constantly watch your footfalls for hidden black ice under the 2 inches of snow. Also my glasses were fogged over from my breath for most of the run.

This was also my first time running with music. Normally I hate being distracted by earbuds popping out and the cords bouncing around, but I figured with the headband to keep em in place, and the cords run down under my vest, maybe it be worth a little musical motivation.

Me after crossing the finish line. Your can see the ice frozen to my face, there's nothing like having to constantly wipe snot-icicles away. This photo, courtesy of Neil Zeller Photography, you can see the rest of his race day photos here.

All in all, Sunday was certainly not a personal best time for me, however it may be one of my proudest runs. Sure I've done some crazy stuff in winter before, jumping through the ice in the annual Bon Soo Polar Bear Swim, is just one of them. But I was truly proud for not quitting, for getting out there and running, by myself and despite the stupid weather. Also, I was only 7 minutes slower than my 10km personal best; pretty good considering I haven't run more than 7km distances in months, and of course the weather. It's a great feeling to know that the level of personal fitness I am at is sufficient to get up and run 10km, with really no preparation, and to feel good afterwards. Of course maybe all that really means is it's time to start getting serious about that looming half marathon goal.

What have you done recently that you are proud of? What goals do you have set for the next couple months?