Tags
Backpacking, Birthday, Bow River, Calgary, Calgary Flood, Calgary Flood 2013, Camping, Elbow River, Glenmore Reservoir, Grass Pass, Hiking, Kananaskis, Kootenay Park, Mother's Day, Motorcycle, Music, Point Campground, Retirement, Stanley Park, Triumph Bonneville, Upper Kananaskis Lake, Waterton Lakes National Park, Wildlife
Calgary is under siege, torrents of water spilling over the banks of the Bow and Elbow rivers. Downtown is closed and the community where I work evacuated. Eyes glued to the TV screen, film clips stream in from all over the province: a mud slide eroding the Trans Canada, a house floats down the river, a brightly colored swing sets rises like a cheerful beacon from a lake of muddy water. It’s the first day of summer.
Tyler and I watched from our bicycles as a man in a kayak paddled towards higher ground. Emerging from the boat, his family surrounded him as he relayed a grim picture of the situation at home. His wife burst into tears.
Today I’m grateful for a fridge full of food, clean water to drink and a warm dry place to rest my head. I’m thankful for what I have and who I have. It’s amazing to me how, in the face of such destruction, a certain camaraderie emerges in a city of a million. All wanting to help, all wanting to do something to ease the devastation of strangers.
In the spirit of gratitude and thanks, a visual summary of Spring, 2013:
- Man in Kayak coming from his flooded home near Stanley Park
- Water pouring from Glenmore Reservoir
- That’s a lot of water!
- Our beloved Sandy Beach Bridge has seen better days.
- Residential streets near Stanley Park
- Calgary Flood 2013
- Stanley Park tennis courts and pool is a lake
- First hike of the season
- Spring hiking up Grass Pass
- Coke can from 1983
- The mountain dog
- Rummy in the woods
- Never disappointing
- First backpacking trip of the year
- It’s just a phase.
- So hungry, he couldn’t even lift his head. Nom, nom, nom.
- Getting the tour of my Bonny!
- Spending some time with Margaret Thatcher (Maggie)
- Rain or shine, we’re out there riding!
- Breaking Maggie in
- Mowin’ it old school
- Mother’s Day in Waterton
- Baiya the busybody
- Bear’s Hump in Waterton
- Any boyfriends?
- “They just use your mind and never give you credit. It’s enough to drive you crazy if you let it!”
- He’s had a few, he’s about to retire, it’s his 60th birthday. Who gave this guy a knife?