(the patio terrace after 7:00–on a really warm evening, one can dine out here with added heat lamps)
(the best time to see the gardens is about the 2nd or 3rd week into Sept. before the fleurs are taken out)
(the garden globe lights complement the garden walks)
(the beds and pots are particularly impressive)
(the old hotel–now 100 years-old–shows itself off best as the sun goes down)
(beauty and splendor everywhere the eye turns)
(old friends for 40 years, me on left, with Ken, right–back after a January wonder-tour-month in Aus)
(the entire scene becomes more magical as the sun goes down)
(a fitting finale to another special evening of an annual ritual)
Every September on a warm fall weekday evening, we wend our way to the Jewel of Edmonton–the Macdonald Hotel to join my oldest Edmonton McNally teacher-friend and his wife for sup at the Confederation Lounge and a stroll about the hotel garden overlooking the river valley. It simply does not get better than this for conversation, memories, the best Tortellini in town, and the brimming beauty of the flowers and river valley in the pleasant evening air. This year’s trip was made special by meeting and chatting with Giselle Denis, one of our burgh’s interesting new landscape artists, in the lounge as she painted two striking canvases from scratch. She and I shared our views of art, process, synesthesia, and how word, music, and movement, music, and art influence one another when she took a break.