Glenn Kubish

This picture captured me this morning. The elements came together. Rainbow, shining birds, stormy and clear sky, light, dark, river, bicycle, the University of Alberta, a man with orange hat, arms crossed, standing in witness. In the bottom right corner a kind of shadow signature. I thought: How lovely it is to know how to ride a bicycle so that you can easily stop riding a bicycle and stand and watch a rainbow when your heart tells you to stop and watch a rainbow. I took the picture and then took a chance. "Hello," I said to the man with the orange hat.  He took an earbud out of his right ear.  "Hi. I took a pic and you might like it and if you do, here, take my phone and email it to yourself." He looked at the picture and smiled and said wow or that's cool and he took the offered device and entered his email address. While this was was happening, my friend Maryanne recorded the scene of two men, two rainbows, one phone. The man in the orange...

The "Oliverbahn" is a stretch of protected, treed, life-lined bicycle lane that runs along the north side of 102 Ave through Edmonton's Oliver neighbourhood. There is a lot to notice and consider on the way to and from the city's downtown core. Today, I saw: A neighbourhood that provides space for pedestrians, bicycle riders, bus passengers, motorists, and, with all the stately elm trees, birds. Families awheel. Homes for fans of Hobbiton. Hobbits. Two built for a bicycle built for two. The cool Lord Simcoe apartment font on brick. Trees with bark and bite. Walkers who wave hello. Automobile drivers who wave hello. A boy who says "cool bike" to his mom about me and hears me say "cool bike" right back to him. People on bikes. The 1913 telephone exchange building by Alan Jeffers. Signed but self-regulated intersections that reveal where we're at with each other: ...