I walked down a long stretch of McKnight Boulevard from west to east.At fourth avenue north East, there is an A&W,and I thought, why waste time cooking when I could have just stopped for a Sausage and Egger. I'd forgotten all about that,and thought about stopping, but my stomach was full.I don't seem to have the appetite I did when I was younger, even just a few years younger. My memory's getting bad too, I think.
Up the hill towards where McKnight crosses the Deerfoot Trail,the walking is a bit hazardous.The sidewalk is rough, and just before you get to Deefoot, it just ends.There is still one across McKnight, but the one on the south side just peters out.So pedestrians either have to sprint across McKnight to get the benefit of a sidewalk, or run like hell across both an exit for and an entrance for the Deerfoot. Then it's edging along the overpass with just a few feet between traffic and the side of the bridge.It's a bit of Russian Roulette, but I've gotten good at it, and have never come close to being hit.But it makes me think how,as compared to nearly every other place I've lived, Calgary seems to cheap out on a lot of services and conveniences. Snow removal is terrible,though that hasn't been a huge issue this winter.Policing gets short changed too, and I see a lot of police involved in operating radar traps,while it sometimes takes hours to get a response to criminal complaints like theft or vandalism.Some of the roads are in poor repair too.Just one of the aggravating things about living here.
The airport is a bit farther on,between Twelfth Street and nineteenth Street Northeast.It is a massive facility, with the main north south runway running almost all the way to Country Hills,about three miles or so north.And it is surrounded by a massive industrial park.To the south there is a golf course.It's the last thing you pass over when the plane comes in from the south.I look onto the golf course,just to see if I can spot a coyote. They like the golf course because it is a big enough expanse,and unused in the winter.Moreover,it has plentiful supplies of two things coyotes need a lot of.Water and rabbits.But there are no coyotes here today.
Planes are lining up at the south end of the runway this morning.It's getting close to nine O'Clock, a more or less peak hour for Calgary International.so there are several planes waiting to take off.They have to wait for an incoming Jumbo Jet though.I didn't manage to get myself situated directly under it, but I was very close. I've got some time,so I stand and watch planes for a while, vaguely wondering if doing so has drawn the attention of any security sorts. there is an observation area just on the west edge of the runway,but I never use that.I stand right along the fence for the golf course,at the end of the runway.
Watching planes makes me think of all of the other cities in the world where people might be flying too.It makes me think that I really could move somewhere perhaps, if only back to Edmonton.I get an idea of where the various planes are headed just by knowing what airline they are.West Jet and Air Canada serve the Canadian market.Delta flies south,as does American. KLM, Lufthansa, Swiss Air and others fly to Europe,a place I've never been.I wonder what I would do if I were in Ireland or Germany or Spain.Where would I work,what would life be like? It's just wondering, because in truth,Calgary is kind of a comfortable, if not an altogether desirable place to be.At least for right now.I've got no plans to leave,but I've also got the vague thought that it's not a forever home.
Up the hill towards where McKnight crosses the Deerfoot Trail,the walking is a bit hazardous.The sidewalk is rough, and just before you get to Deefoot, it just ends.There is still one across McKnight, but the one on the south side just peters out.So pedestrians either have to sprint across McKnight to get the benefit of a sidewalk, or run like hell across both an exit for and an entrance for the Deerfoot. Then it's edging along the overpass with just a few feet between traffic and the side of the bridge.It's a bit of Russian Roulette, but I've gotten good at it, and have never come close to being hit.But it makes me think how,as compared to nearly every other place I've lived, Calgary seems to cheap out on a lot of services and conveniences. Snow removal is terrible,though that hasn't been a huge issue this winter.Policing gets short changed too, and I see a lot of police involved in operating radar traps,while it sometimes takes hours to get a response to criminal complaints like theft or vandalism.Some of the roads are in poor repair too.Just one of the aggravating things about living here.
The airport is a bit farther on,between Twelfth Street and nineteenth Street Northeast.It is a massive facility, with the main north south runway running almost all the way to Country Hills,about three miles or so north.And it is surrounded by a massive industrial park.To the south there is a golf course.It's the last thing you pass over when the plane comes in from the south.I look onto the golf course,just to see if I can spot a coyote. They like the golf course because it is a big enough expanse,and unused in the winter.Moreover,it has plentiful supplies of two things coyotes need a lot of.Water and rabbits.But there are no coyotes here today.
Planes are lining up at the south end of the runway this morning.It's getting close to nine O'Clock, a more or less peak hour for Calgary International.so there are several planes waiting to take off.They have to wait for an incoming Jumbo Jet though.I didn't manage to get myself situated directly under it, but I was very close. I've got some time,so I stand and watch planes for a while, vaguely wondering if doing so has drawn the attention of any security sorts. there is an observation area just on the west edge of the runway,but I never use that.I stand right along the fence for the golf course,at the end of the runway.
Watching planes makes me think of all of the other cities in the world where people might be flying too.It makes me think that I really could move somewhere perhaps, if only back to Edmonton.I get an idea of where the various planes are headed just by knowing what airline they are.West Jet and Air Canada serve the Canadian market.Delta flies south,as does American. KLM, Lufthansa, Swiss Air and others fly to Europe,a place I've never been.I wonder what I would do if I were in Ireland or Germany or Spain.Where would I work,what would life be like? It's just wondering, because in truth,Calgary is kind of a comfortable, if not an altogether desirable place to be.At least for right now.I've got no plans to leave,but I've also got the vague thought that it's not a forever home.
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