"He glides over ancient fire pits, skillfully chipped stone tools and weapons, fragments of ancient pottery and the leftovers of thousands of fossilized dinners...[t]he boy finds no signpost, no plaque, to describe the significance of the buried treasure beneath his feet" (Goyette 3).
After reading this all I could think to myself was how wasteful it is that all too often natural and historical gems go not only untouched but sometimes even unnoticed even once they have been uncovered. The more I think about it the more I realize how truly shameful it is to allow such historic beauty go amiss.
As I continued my reading I found myself drawn to the following passage:
"Woolly mammoths, mastodons, lions, sabre-toothed cats, musk ox, camels, bison, ground sloths and wolves wandered through the new river valley and its ravines" (7).
It honestly surprises me, perhaps I am just highlighting my naivete, that these ancient animals once walked and ruled the plains of what we now know as Edmonton mainly because I cannot say I ever really think about Edmonton from an archaeological or anthropological point of view.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Thoughts from Tuesday's class...
I just wanted to say that Jillana and Debrah, I found your comments in class to be quite interesting. Jillana, your comment that sometimes walks are more like b-lines, straight for our respective destinations perked my attention. I agree, I often find myself making b-lines about my day, especially during the school day. I just want to get to where I'm going as soon as possible, as directly as possible. However, there are times when I really enjoy leisurely, mindful walks that allow me to meander freely throughout the city.
And Debrah, I really liked your comment about the 'one-arm push guy' who patrols Whyte Ave. It made me think of 'Whyte Ave Dan,' the Beatles look-alike who can be found busking outside of the Army & Navy department store. Although must of us do not likely know these Whyte Ave icons in-depth, we do share a connection together as a city because we share a collective knowledge of these characters.
And Debrah, I really liked your comment about the 'one-arm push guy' who patrols Whyte Ave. It made me think of 'Whyte Ave Dan,' the Beatles look-alike who can be found busking outside of the Army & Navy department store. Although must of us do not likely know these Whyte Ave icons in-depth, we do share a connection together as a city because we share a collective knowledge of these characters.
Majestic Mystery
After reading Ted Bishop's chapter within Edmonton on Location: River City Chronicles on the subject of the Hotel MacDonald, I found myself considering what my thoughts and feelings regarding the Hotel Mac were.
Bishop writes that during the late 1960's "[t]here was a general feeling in town that the Mac was stuffy, that it was only for special occasions like wedding receptions and graduations" (50). What I realized was that nearly fifty years later, I feel the same sentiments about the Hotel Mac.
One thing that I gathered from the chapter, perhaps mistakenly, was that it seemed as though once Jan Reimer took the reigns as mayor of Edmonton, there was an attempt to revive the overall image of the grand hotel. However, just to make sure I wasn't the only one who thought that this image revival had failed, I asked one of my roomates what her impressions of the Hotel Mac were. She responded by saying that she feels it is chateau-like and should be situated on a lake. "One of the only genuinely beautiful buildings in a downtown full of high-rises," she said, you always know that its there when you drive up to it because it's just so majestic."
So to me, the Hotel Mac, although a true city gem, remains a mystery because I have not yet been able to qualify an occasion of mine worthy enough of Hotel Mac status.
Bishop writes that during the late 1960's "[t]here was a general feeling in town that the Mac was stuffy, that it was only for special occasions like wedding receptions and graduations" (50). What I realized was that nearly fifty years later, I feel the same sentiments about the Hotel Mac.
One thing that I gathered from the chapter, perhaps mistakenly, was that it seemed as though once Jan Reimer took the reigns as mayor of Edmonton, there was an attempt to revive the overall image of the grand hotel. However, just to make sure I wasn't the only one who thought that this image revival had failed, I asked one of my roomates what her impressions of the Hotel Mac were. She responded by saying that she feels it is chateau-like and should be situated on a lake. "One of the only genuinely beautiful buildings in a downtown full of high-rises," she said, you always know that its there when you drive up to it because it's just so majestic."
So to me, the Hotel Mac, although a true city gem, remains a mystery because I have not yet been able to qualify an occasion of mine worthy enough of Hotel Mac status.
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