an early darkness

I've joined the ranks of the 8 - 4:30, waking at 6 every morning and getting home by 5 in the evening. I leave on foot in complete darkness and I return on foot in darkness. I normally take the sidestreets, but going up to Jasper to mail a letter, I was too distracted by the thickness of traffic zipping in every single direction to be annoyed that the post offices weren't even open until 8am.

I remember briefly walking around one summer at 7am, whether it was at the beginning or the end of a very long day, I no longer remember, but I recall thinking how busy and alive the city felt. Constant traffic, people waiting in crowds at corners, and line ups forming at coffee shops.

Deciding to walk right down Jasper from 112 to 124 St, it was a completely different city. I could only imagine if more stores and restaurants were open and other people were walking back and forth enjoying themselves. A lot of pedestrians truck it along in the mornings, whether to the bus stop or getting a jump on daily errands, but where are do these people go at night? It's a question I've been asking myself for over ten years, and though the idea of a night life in downtown Edmonton is now fathomable, maybe I should just resign myself to the fact that it's just not that kind of town. Morning life north of the river, Night life south of the river. Just like it always was, I suppose.

I am seeing the tremendous morning life of downtown Edmonton as the healthier of two concepts.
time to just put on the ol' cardigan and stay in the for the night.