Interview with Ted Robinson, Age Five, on his favourite places in Edmonton
Ted?
Yeah.
That's a beautiful name. How old are you?
Five.
Five! Do you live in Edmonton?
(Nods yes).
You do? Do you know where you live in Edmonton?
(Shakes head)
Is it far away from this library? Is your house far away?
How far away?
A long way?
Not a long, long way.
Not a long way? Do you like coming to the library?
I love the kids' books.
You love the kids' books? What kids' books do you like the best?
mmm...[? unclear]
And you come a lot to the library?
(Looks at father).
Every once in a while?
(Father answers, "Uh huh. About every Tuesday we usually come.")
(Nods in agreement).
Do you go to school yet or play-school? Anything like that? Or daycare?
I don't go to day-care. I'm gonna go to kindergarten really soon. In September. And I did go to play-school last year.
Where do you like to play the best in Edmonton? Where do you like...or do you like to go swimming? What other things do you like do to go playing? Do you ever go and wade in the wading pool or anything like that? I like to go swimming and I like to ride in my dad's two-seater blue car.
Oh! That must be a special car. What kind of car is that two-seater blue car?
A Lotus!
Oh, lucky guy! And what else do you like to do?
I like Fort Edmonton Park too.
Oh you do? Fort Edmonton Park? That's a nice place to go. Do you ever go on the little train at the park...at Fort Edmonton? Yes. I mean...do you mean the streetcar?
Yes, do you like to go on the streetcar?
Yes! Yes. The only thing I don't like about the airbraked one is that sometimes... you know when the driver lifts that lever and it makes that loud noise?
Yes! And it's scary eh? It's scary. They shouldn't do that. But I guess those little streetcars were like that eh?
I guess you need to do it.
I guess.
Something to do with the air brakes. And the bija-bija-bsssshhh ... that noise after the trolleys stop, that's something to do with the air brakes too.
Right. Is there anything else you do? Do you ever go with horses? Sometimes the horses pull wagons at Fort Edmonton Park. Have you ever been on that?
Yes. I sometimes go to that. And we don't go on the train ... the steam train. We once tried to go on it, but my mom said it took too long to start up so we got off.
So, you got off because it takes a long time to go on that. Let's see, what else can I ask you about Edmonton. You've been to a lot of places in Edmonton ...do you want to tell me about something else?
Yeah.
Okay. What? About maybe...how about toys? What kind of toys do you like to play with the most right now? What are you favourite toys?
Cars and Trucks and things that go.
Things that go? Do you have sort of a whole bunch of them at home you can play with?
Oh yeah, I've got lots of cars and trucks!
That's good. That's really good. I wonder if they'll be like little lotuses... something like that maybe? I don't know. Have you ever been on the LRT? Do you know what that is? It's like a train that goes around Edmonton. Ever been on that?
(Father explains, "[? Unclear]. Remember I used to work downtown. I used to go on the metro? The underground one? The one near where my old office used to be. Remember we used to go on that?")
The subway? Oh yes, I went on that one once.
In a different city? Did you come to Edmonton from a different city?
(Father explains, " He went on the metro here. We've just always called it the metro. [? Unclear].")
Why do you like living in Edmonton. In this city. What's...?
Because there's lots of playgrounds and...
That's the main reason? Well, there are lots of playgrounds.
And the parks too.
Do you sometimes go for picnics at the park?
We go for picnics at Fort Edmonton Park and Laurier Park.
Well, thank you very much for talking to us. That's a big, big help. Okay, Do you know how to sign your name yet, to write your name?
Yes.
Would you write your name down for us?
Yes.
Okay, Thank you very much.
What did you see at Shakespeare in the Park? What play was it again?
The Merry Wives of Windsor.
The Merry Wives of Windsor? And what did you like about it the best?
The clowny browny guy.
(Laughs) Was he funny?
(Laughs and nods)
Did he have a funny costume on?
Ummm. I didn't laugh at the costume, but I laughed at some of the things that he did.
What kinds of things did he do?
Well, the clowny browny guy put a meanster guy behind the laundry hamper and plopped him on the other side of the [?stairs].
(Laughs) Did you laugh your head off when you saw that?
Yeah!
That's wonderful! Well, I'm glad that you went to Shakespeare in the Park. Do you think other kids would like Shakespeare in the Park?
(Nods)
Okay. That's at Hawrelak Park isn't it?
Yes. You know where the dogs go run about when they're off leashes? It's near there.
Yeah? Have you ever seen the ducks in the lake there?
The last time we were there at the off-leash dog area we saw a few dogs in the lake. Just at the beginning though.
There was? Oh! And do you ever...Do you know how to skate yet?
No.
Do you think you'll learn about that sometime soon? What do you do in the wintertime when it's cold outside? What do you like to do?
We mostly stay indoors. I like to build snow things, like snow forts...go for sleigh rides.
Sleigh rides? Does anybody pull you on a sled or a toboggan or something like that?
Well, my mom or my dad will pull me on my sled if I'm still big enough...I mean small enough.
(Father whispers, "Especially when we go for walks in that forest area by our house. Want to tell them about that? Going for walks out by the little tree area by our house?")
The Buggy Way?
(Father whispers, "You might want to tell them why it's called the Buggy Way though. They may not know.")
You know why it's called the Buggy Way?
Why is it called the Buggy Way?
In the summer time there's bugs in it.
And so you call it the Buggy Way where it's buggy! But have you noticed this summer in 2002 there aren't too many bugs this summer.
No!
That's good isn't it. So the buggy way isn't too buggy. That's good. That's good. Thank you.