I wonder if the city has a mud clearing budget. If it doesn’t, it should be able to afford one with the mild winter leaving us so little snow to clear.

We need a mud clearing operation because it looks like our river walk is going to be a matter of ‘Now you see it, now you don’t.’ Seeing how little we usually get to use this valuable amenity, we should at least be able to enjoy it as often as we can.

The Assiniboine River rose and fell very quickly this year and left behind its usual sludge. It’s bad enough the 3,000 residents of Evergreen Place have to navigate another Osborne Bridge construction maze to get to the walk; we shouldn’t have to slip and slide our way to The Forks for our morning ceremony, wake-up walk, exercise or whatever we use this path for.

I am sure they will clean the walk soon but it’s been a mucky, muddy mess for weeks and will get that way every time it rains or the floodwaters from down south come. We shouldn’t have to wait so long to use such a valuable resource.

We have learned that every day is precious when it comes to the river walk (last year, it was only clear for about a week but 2012 looks like we will be able to wear quite the beaten path).

So let’s get right on it and clean the river walk as soon as the water recedes time and again (or do I need to remind you I have Bob Dylan and CSNY on my iPod and you don’t want me writing "What if you knew him and found him stuck in the mud?" protest songs).

And speaking of that construction on the Osborne Bridge, which will restrict traffic to three lanes again, I want to commend a couple of bridge men for their help navigating my way to said river walk.

At first thinking, the city appeared to be cracking down on us jaywalkers who slip across Osborne to save a couple of blocks instead of hiking down to the crosswalk at Osborne. I was subsequently advised to "pull those plugs out of my ears so I can hear the cars bearing down on me" (like I can’t see them) but they turned the other way as I picked my way through morning traffic at the foot of the bridge.

Having said that, I can expect a ticket for jaywalking or certainly a crackdown on crossing mid-street in the near future.

It should be easier to exercise in this city.

Don Marks is an Osborne Village-based writer. Neighbourhood Forum is a readers’ column. If you live in The Sou’wester area and would like to contribute to this column, contact jim.timlick@canstarnews.com.