Thursday, March 31, 2011
Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
How are robins supposed to deal with snow?
They aren’t exactly tiny, fragile birds, but still, there’s just not a lot of food around for them yet and I don’t think they enjoy being out in the snow.
Birds are such miraculous creatures. They can fly and they run on … chicken feed.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Looking north toward the Centre Street Bridge, Calgary. Photo by Jill Browne, February 22, 2011.
We’ve been on daylight savings time for a while now. Why it started in early March is a good question but OK, it did.
This means it stays light later in the evening, and that’s nice.
Going to work in the morning, for those who have to travel any distance, is still dismal and dark.
This picture from February could have been taken today, a month later.
The picture is of Centre Street, looking north. In the distance is the Centre Street Bridge, crossing the Bow River. It’s a two-level bridge. Every year, usually on the first day of the Calgary Stampede, someone who can’t read road signs will drive his RV, or attempt to drive his RV, across the lower deck and get stuck because the bridge clearance is too low for his vehicle.
Some day I hope to get to the scene and watch the RV extraction process. It’s sort of a rite of passage. (Watching, not being the driver.)
Starbucks at the Westin Hotel, Calgary. Photo by Jill Browne, February 22, 2011.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
The picture shows the Westin Hotel on 4th Avenue SW, downtown. It’s still one of the leading business hotels, with a great location for people who have meetings right downtown.
I haven’t visited the Starbucks in there yet.
Calgary skyscrapers. Photo by Jill Browne, February 22, 2011.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Shiny buildings, but not so shiny on a grey February day. It’s like that again today.
Here’s a Google Street View picture, also downtown, looking at different buildings, in warmer weather.
And a link in case you can’t see that.
That clear structure hanging over the sidewalk, looking like several box kites joined together, is a sculpture put in when the building was known as the Amoco building. When the sun shines through it, there are rainbow colours. It’s quite attractive.
Fourth Avenue Flyover and Langevin Bridge, Calgary. Photo by Jill Browne, February 22, 2011.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Winter. Snow. If you’re getting tired of hearing me say it, imagine how I feel.
I have been hearing robins over the past week or two, but today I saw my first one. Poor guy, up there in the spruce tree in the snow.
The picture is from February, though the day looks much the same as today. We were going east on Memorial Drive, stopped at the light at Edmonton Trail, and I took this picture of the 4th Avenue flyover. You can also see the older Langevin Bridge behind it.
The Langevin Bridge is named after the same gentleman as the Langevin Block on Parliament Hill, Sir Hector-Louis Langevin. He was a Conservative Member of Parliament from Quebec, and one of the Fathers of Confederation. He was also the Minister of Public Works and left office because of a scandal. His department was the subject of an inquiry in 1891, and he stepped down that year.
It strikes me as odd that a Quebec politician from any party would have a bridge named for him in Calgary. Even in the early days, we had more than enough luminaries to cover the infrastructure.
Langevin was the minister who petitioned Parliament for a bridge across the Bow River, and that is why his name is on it. So says a brochure from the City of Calgary, “A Snapshot of Calgary’s History”. The petitioning was in 1885. The bridge was built in 1910, twenty-five years later.
You can just tell there’s a lot of juicy 19th century politics behind the scenes here. I wonder who in Calgary felt such loyalty to Langevin as to put his name on the Calgary bridge so long after the fact, and why.
Chamber of Commerce Building, Calgary. Photo by Jill Browne, January 3, 2011.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Snow. Had lunch with an old friend at a Mexican restaurant with a pagoda-shaped sign where the Chinese restaurant used to be. Fun lunch, yucky weather.
I took this picture in January. The old Chamber of Commerce building is the home of the Chamber, and a beautiful building it is. It’s been integrated into the modern skyscraper behind it and can be reached via the Plus 15.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
White Spot is way more popular in B.C. than in Calgary, at least with people I know in both places.
I think the menu is the same.
I’ve ignored the Calgary White Spots for years, but I have a good memory of one that used to be downtown, long ago.
When I first came to Calgary it was January and extremely cold. I was on my way to the downtown bus station to head out to Banff, with my skis on my shoulder and a massive backpack with my worldly goods.
A stranger said I looked cold and bought me a hot chocolate at the White Spot. That was it. No come-on, nothing inappropriate, just a kind and friendly gesture.
My Wednesday breakfast partner and I tried the White Spot on MacLeod Trail today. I can’t remember ever being inside.
It’s really a nice-looking restaurant, clean, spacious, calm. The breakfasts, just fine. Bacon, eggs, hash browns, French toast. All good.
A friendly waitress named Della looked after us.
I’d go back. I’d even try it for dinner some time.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
A week ago I went to the Calgary Zoo for the day. It was bright and sunny, a perfect spring day.
The lions were basking on the rocks. We ran into Kelly, a Zoo educator I’ve known for a few years and found out the lions can bask on the rocks all year round if they want.
The baby giraffe was cute but it was the hyrax that stood out unexpectedly. Usually these little grey guys are few and far between. But this day we saw them piled up on each other in groups of five and six, looking like piles of grey rocks. I guess that’s the point.
Fun day at the zoo.
jill