We lucked out on June 25th. It had rained all day, but the skies cleared in time for Critical Lass.

We rode across the (reopened!) West side of High Level Bridge, up the separated path west of 109th Street, then through downtown on 102nd Ave.

We stopped to check out this moving art installation by Holly Newman one block up from the Boyle Street Plaza:

Next we checked out how the LIVINGbridge is looking so far. (You’ll remember we also visited last summer, later in summer when street bench entries and more plants were in place; their website is here.) Organizers had suggested that we come ready to plant, so I’d brought my gloves and a couple of trowels. Nobody was around to give us direction, so we did some weeding, and picked an empty looking bed and ringed it with some of the annuals waiting to be planted.

We wrapped up quickly and left when some guys who were hanging out there started hassling us – in particular, one native gent seemed upset by our presence. We headed back downtown and had a long wide-ranging chat at Remedy. I completely forgot to take photos.

On the way home, they were testing the newly-installed lights on High Level Bridge:

While we were taking photos, we met a 53-year-old res school survivor in distress, and walked him the rest of the length of the High Level Bridge to make sure he was okay. He had a lot of profound lessons for us (as elders and survivors do), which I’ll share in a blog post eventually. He taught us a phrase, pronounced cha-oon-day, that was his prayer to the Creator for a better day tomorrow. He faced the sunset as he was praying, and traced the horizon with his hands. (If anyone can teach me the proper spelling I’d be grateful. I’m not sure if it’s Cree or Dene.)

Let’s all send a wish into the universe / to the Creator / good vibes to him, wherever he is now, for a thousand better tomorrows, and consider donating to organizations who work with homeless people or the urban aboriginal community so people in his situation feel less alone and hopeless.