Jill Browne, from home and away

Plus 15, by Jill Browne, Calgary, January 31, 2011.

Monday, January 31, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

It’s about -25 Celsius today for the high. In Medicine Hat, where it gets quite hot in summer, it was -41 with wind chill this morning. (At 40 below, Fahrenheit and Celsius are the same: bloody cold).

I’m grateful to the late Harold Hanen, architect, who promoted the Plus-15 walkway concept here in Calgary, as part of trying to make us a “livable winter city”. As shown in the picture, the Plus-15s are walkways, 15 feet up in the air, connecting many of the downtown buildings. Admittedly, it can take quite a bit longer to go a few blocks via Plus-15, as compared to going outside, but for any distance, they’re great when the weather isn’t so nice.

There has been debate about these things since the idea first came up. “They’ll take away pedestrians from street level! Downtown will be dead!” is the gist of the anti-Plus-15 argument. (Here’s a recent Calgary Herald article about it.)

I beg to differ. Downtown is not dead; the pedestrian life is happening inside when the weather’s poor.

I also take exception to the point in the Calgary Herald article that the Bow building is somehow a better element of “livable winter city” design than the Plus-15.

The article says:

“Calgary planners are starting to think more about the entire year in their work. David Downs, a senior architect and the co-ordinator of urban design and heritage with the City of Calgary, points to The Bow tower under construction downtown as an example. It was designed to maximize sunlight year-round and was aligned to minimize the impact of winter winds. That makes it more energy-efficient, and cosier.”

The Bow building (and I will try not to get started on a rant here) may have its good points, but it is out of scale with the rest of downtown and casts a massive shadow. Shadows = cold. Not a nice thing to do to your neighbours in winter.

More Bow building rants on other days. For today, YAY Plus-15, and thank you, Harold.

Snow on the tree looks like a Christmas card. Photo by Jill Browne, Calgary, January 30, 2011.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

The snow continued, though not all day and not as much. But for a little while today THE SUN CAME OUT and it was a beautiful sight.

I think I am getting cabin fever.

Will report on advancing hallucinations etc.

By the way, that lattice thing in front of the tree is almost 2 metres high. The snow is about (very approximately) 30 cm to 50 cm deep, depending where you stand. In other places, there’s almost none thanks to the shelter of the tree.

Snow on a Calgary street. Photo by Jill Browne, Calgary, January 29, 2011.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

The snow hit us in a calm and deliberate way. It has been falling steadily all day, but with next to no wind, and also nobody walking in it.

This is perfect, perfect snow. Light, fluffy, beautiful. I didn’t even mind shovelling it.

But a grey day.

In other news, the other day I saw the new LRT under construction near Crowchild. Massive! Want to get back and take some pictures. When the snow has stopped.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Yeah, I go for coffee a lot. It’s my main social outlet. I rarely go out at night (too lazy), like to watch movies at home on NetFlix instead of going to the theatre, hate shopping, do like eating at restaurants, but the thing I do most is go for coffee.

So I know who goes to what coffee shops and when.

One of my regular spots has had a bit of a change in the regulars over the last ten years or so (hard to believe it’s been that long, but it has). Still, I see more men in there than women, at least, I see the same men more often than I see the same women.

The current crop are semi-retired guys. Earlier regulars include one very scared and nervous guy, and one stern looking guy who is actually very friendly and kind (gives his seat to a pregnant lady, that sort of thing).

The only woman regular (besides me) is a lady I haven’t seen for a while, and I think that’s for a good reason. She used to come in during her recovery from what must have been a horrid car accident. I hope she’s back at work now.

And for a while there was the nurse from abroad studying to get her Canadian credentials. I hope she made it and is working too. She seemed like the sort of caring person I would like to have should I ever need a nurse.

It’s just a daily human drama out there in Cow Town.

Coming into Calgary from the north on Highway 2, aka Deerfoot Trail. Photo: by Jill Browne. Calgary, January 3, 2011

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Weather, like in the picture, but a little warmer. Things are melting.

Today I drove 100 km just in town and had no fun doing it.

9:30 appointment in the NW, no problem on Crowchild

Two more appointments close to home

6:30 (evening) back to the NW, this time Crowchild northbound was backed up horribly from about 37th Ave. SW and it took 30 minutes at least for what should be a 5-minute stretch of the trip. This had something to do with the new LRT being built, but I’m not sure what exactly. Going home later at night we went a different way, no problems.

The windshield is dirty like in this picture. Must get to the car wash.

Oh, and I was really disgusted by the discourteous drivers on that northbound trip in the evening. It’s beyond rudeness. People aggressively race forward to prevent others from making lane changes. I saw it done and I had it done to me.

I avoid rush hour driving for a reason. These jerks cause accidents. I hope they pay triple my insurance rates.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

A warm day, up to 10 degrees I heard. Ice melting, fear we may have big sheets of it tomorrow if it gets cold, from all that melted snow that is now covering everything.

The sky has a grey lid on it but to the west there is a band of sky between the mountains and the bottom of the sky. It’s about two inches high and as the day ages, that band turns a golden yellow. I saw it through the filigree of the bare aspen trees and was momentarily enchanted.

Calgary Feed Mill building, Inglewood in SE Calgary. Photo: Jill Browne, January 3, 2011.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011 (Happy Robbie Burns’ Day!)

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Here’s a picture from earlier this month.

This building has had its old painted signage restored, and I love it.

You can see it in Inglewood, on 12 Street SE.

The signs say:

FEEDS

Calgary Co-op.

Fur Farmers’

Ass’n. Ltd.

Custom Mixing, Grinding, Pelleting

Which begs the question, I suppose, what kind of fur farming industry did Calgary have, and when, and what happened to it?

By the way, sorry for the spotty picture. I took it from the car, through the window.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Overcast and drippy today, just above freezing

Slipped on my own driveway, didn’t fall.

Slipped on my friend’s driveway, didn’t fall.

Decided before it’s too late I should fix the problem.

Stuck my handy trowel into my handy pail of grit and sprinkled the icy areas liberally. (Well, not at my friend’s house. She has to get her own grit.)

Grit is what passes for sand here in Calgary. Instead of sanding the highway, they use grit, which is a treat to the windshield of a vehicle.

But it does the job.

The free grit comes from a pile at the local fire station. It’s there for citizens to use.

Now you know.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Bright and sunny for much of the day, and a little above zero.

I celebrated the good weather by taking the dogs for a walk, one at a time.

Rudy and I met up with a little black dog called Muffy who came up to his knees.

Maggie and I saw a giant white jackrabbit bigger than Muffy.

Then I chipped some of the packed snow off the sidewalk and felt very virtuous about it.

Rudy and Maggie’s blog is pretty lame, but they are after all, dogs so take that into account. I think there are pictures of them on the blog.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Warmer today, even a little slushy

Central Mountain Air flies to the top and bottom of Alberta and British Columbia, and from side to side as well.

Here’s a map of their routes. Ever heard of Rainbow Lake? Fort Nelson? Smithers? Now you know how to get there.

The people at Central Mountain Air were brilliant at helping a Special Person get off their plane and into a wheelchair.

THANK YOU.