exhiliaration in the streets of edmonton

june 25 2006

I am not a hard core sports fan and neither am I a hockey fan in any way really except that my neighbours and I that live along Victoria Promenade in Edmontonwalked along the Saskatchewan River Valley's edge to Michael's Bar and Grill just down the street to view the 2006 Stanley Cup series on a large screen while sharing a jug of beer and barbecued ribs and shouts of support for the Edmonton Oilers as they targeted the one hundred and fourteen year old Stanley Cup

The most exciting moment for me was in the fifth game overtime escalation  as we sat up front by the wide screen and after three minutes of overtime Pasani's shot winged it into the Carolina Hurricane's net over Cam Ward's shoulder

I felt spoiled at this moment because I had not collected hockey cards and I hadn't been a diligent follower of all the games from scratch in the monotonous moments my support for the oilers had been zero and I had not nursed a hockey son and I was not the right sex to have coached a hockey team of boys but then Icould fly in at high tide and gather the winds of this hockey excitement yes I felt spoiled

the collective excitement over the Oilers game was contagious and I really did not have an established immune system to resist this kind of excitement there was endless honking in the streets shouts of jubilation a joyful release of contained energy and the spirit of brotherhood amongst  Edmontonians  expanded to draw the entire city into the hold of the Stanley Cup series

we waved our Edmonton Oilers banners and honking cars replied and I wore my festival hat borrowed from the Calgary stampede a black cowboy hat with a silver band to turn tricks of magic in the streets and on Whyte Avenue pedestrians gave hundreds of high fives to one another until their hands ached to connect with other pedestrians

and this brought the masses close together in a fashionably intimate way and this was the true mobocracy as the masses used the technique of scardatura to alter the   normal tuning of the music of the streets

but I felt that the real truth of these events was not about winning an internationally broadcasted hockey match and clutching the street pavement with artificial roots but it was about a strong sense of universal brotherhood a reason to get together in celebration in a high keyed kind of way even if it was from some perspectives frivolous I noticed a day care of three year olds that wore Edmonton Oilers t-shirts and an elderly lady blew a whistle to cheer on the Oilers after the sixth game victory against the Carolina Hurricanes the mood was exagerated all encompassing and included all ages

the world is weary there are more profound ways to celebrate in the streets like for example to celebrate the christmas spirit but you must look quietly inside for these celebrations you must consider not only the joy but the crucifixion of humanity and the cultural leanings the soft exclusions tug at the heartstring

multiculturalism in Canada is one of the proudest gifts that Canadians have to offer and I exalt myself in the celebration of my four ancestries french italian german and irish and I exalt my neighbours in the celebration of their cultures 

but humanity is founded on contradictions on the building blocks  of civilization and there are always drawbacks to consider there is no easy integration there is strained and stained immigration laws and segregation

and what seemed to be more important than winning the Edmonton Oilers vsthe Carolina Hurricane game is that we celebrated the essential part of our existence that we were canadians and more im[ortant than that the all encompassing spirit of humanity that reached out through frivolous celebration to a common human esprit with nothing really to celebrateand everything to celebrate dancing across the evergreen landscape of our human hearts and minds

I hope the Americans enjoyed this series as much as the Canadians have and whoever wins this Stanley Cup tonight it is true will continue their jubilation  but tomorrow it will not matter and we will realize that we are all winners because we connected and there will be the sweet marsescence of the flower of international sport where enthusiasm may wither but still clings to the stem of brotherhood

autumn benediction
around here around  Victoria Promenade in Edmonton everyone is strongly impressed by the transformation of the landscape Jay died his hair golden and orange and I crossed the street to the river valley last night to be blessed again by the nondescript sky and I watched the moon goddess draped in a transparent orange fabric woven and sheered by humanity's dreams

my mind genuflected and the sky message tonight was that the darkness of mortality is exalted like the most brilliant indulgent summer day

the flame of 2005


and I realized that it is not that rome is the eternal city  but it is the eternal summer night the eternal experience of my ancestral heritage

my spirit burns at the vatican in mourning of pope john paul 11's death and in celebration of catholocism being the universal sense of christian brotherhood and my spirit burns at the vatican like a flame in the eternal summer night

april 10th 2005 there is sacred mystery in numbers

the wind has turned the sacred leaves of his litany

long live Pope John Paul viva il papa



copyright Madeleine Schiller

seasonal edmonton transit


I waited for the bus @ the Churchill Square Bus Stop and I always tell people that this is the most beautiful place in the world-right now right here this very bus stop and passer bys seem to agree with me

there was the snowfilled wind the sweeping of the churchill square cleansing stained memories over the new year and the flashing light tubes like festival candles lighting the festivities and the ancient stone bell tower built by the volunteers of edmonton and the tower chiming joyfully and historically through the snow rendering the minutes with the sacred tone and the pyramidal shaped city hall reminiscent  of a sun filled afternoon of our ancient egyptian ancestors who fished along the nile river and the edmonton public library building across from churchill square wrapped during the festivities llike an enormous christmas presentand the silver disc the broken violated circle of life and the grasping hands of hunger reminding the citizens of edmonton that you have to take moments or lightyears to suffer for humanity inspiring longanimity

then the chartered bus came by and I asked to hop on and the driver said-there is a fee to buy tickets at an earlier date- to view the christmas light tour- those lights that couldnt be extinguished from the darkest hours of the solstice but if there is a seat the driver said hop on

and so there was an empty seat and we drove down a strip of territory where everyone decorated extravagantly  candy cane lane and when I was a child I liked the candy cane lights on the  weeping willow tree the most and this made me feel nostalgic to see them through my past and current vision and I slipped into a hypnosis of christmas lights once more

as we drove to the park by the saskatchewan river there were the silhouettes of prancing reindeer that travelled lights and santas and hockey players went for the long shot against a white frozen landscape silent and breathless with anticipation and two ten year old girls sang silent night without any musical accompaniment to detract from the beauty of their raw child voices in a christmas register


then we had hot chocolate in the old marble legislature building and the pine trees danced with clear lights that bordered the skating rink

then back to my favourite bus stop

thanks a million times I said to the bus driver and merry christmas I said as bravissimo to the driver who had volunteered to drive for edmonton christmas light tour

I continued to wait for the number one bus @ Churchill Square bus stop and this bus would drive me home to my highrise building dressed for the season with each apartment balcony signed with its own christmas signature of luminosity

edmonton's highlevel bridge light signature

southern cross

we are all entitled to the southern cross to the constellation crux to the cruciform dream to the crucificition we are all entitled to wear the ruby studded crown and the fleece lined jacket we are all entitled to the lovely pale red star gamma crucis at the summet of the cross

the profoundest reward bleeds from the deepest suffering

I remember her pale blue eyes  seeing through her own kind of death and her look of gratitude for my being there  and the lovely pale red star spinning in the blue skies of her eyes

I am a christian and this is my prayer for good friday 


copyright Madeleine Schiller

evidence of a visit @ the2nd cup