Jill Browne, from home and away

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.

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.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

One of my good friends is Ranger Julie, who is a real park ranger.  She got the nickname when stationed up high on a mountain in a hut, watching for avalanches and helping hikers along their way. She’s seen everything to do with hiking, I’m sure.  The one story I remember is of a young Italian guy hiking in the Rockies with no food and no equipment, no tent, no sleeping bag, nothing.  He didn’t realize that Canadian hiking is a little more rugged than going from hut to hut in the Alps. By the time he reached Julie’s hut he was pretty hungry!

Imagine having a job that sends you out alone on horseback with a pack horse or two, for the summer, to live alone with the hikers and the mountains.  Sounds idyllic.  Julie doesn’t do that now but in the past she has.

It’s bloody hard work.

She got to be a ranger by paying her dues.  I think her first official parks job may have been on trail crew.

You know those trails and bridges you hike across?  Trail crews go out and fix those. Sometimes when I’m crossing a bridge or walking up some impossible slope holding on to a cable, I think of the poor fearless workers who built it. Ranger Julie and her pals.

A notice from the Whyte Museum in Banff came today by email.

Among the several programs and exhibits coming up, was a mention that William Waterworth’s prisoner of war logbook would be on display, along with additional material.  I’ve just emailed the museum to ask about the dates.

UPDATE:  The display is up already and will continue until mid-March 2011.  It’s in the Archives, not the Museum galleries.  The Archives’ hours are 10 to 12 and 1 to 5, Monday to Friday, but I would double check before going on a statutory holiday Monday.

I had the great privilege of meeting Mr. Waterworth at his home in Banff a couple of years ago.  Sadly, he died recently.  This came as a surprise to me. When I met him, he was in great shape, despite having just had foot surgery.  My belated condolences to the Waterworth family and friends, should any of them happen to read this.

My meeting happened because I was a volunteer researcher for a museum exhibit called “For You, The War is Over“, which showed something of the prisoner of war experience for two groups of men: Alberta men captured as prisoners of war in Germany, and German men held as prisoners of war in Alberta.  Through that project, I met a few of the dwindling number of surviving prisoners living in the Calgary area, and some of their families.

Mr. Waterworth’s log book, which I was very honoured to have been shown, is relatively rare.  When the Allied prisoners were released, they faced a long, hard march back to friendly territory.  Men died on the trail, with their friends unable to save them.  They typically didn’t carry anything that wasn’t useful, so many log books and other personal items were left behind.

Another Calgary flyer, Barry Davidson, brought his PoW log book home.  Through the generosity of his family and the Bomber Command Museum of Canada in Nanton, Alberta, you can see Mr. Davidson’s log book online.  The books have some similarities, and some distinctly personal touches.

Mr. Waterworth’s log book is a family heirloom.  Thank you to the Waterworth family for allowing others to see it.

Those who fought in the Second World War, and in wars before and since, regardless of where and how they served, literally put their lives on the line for the rest of us.  They are all heroes.

Whyte Museum website

Excerpt on the Whyte’s website about the logbook: “Bill Waterworth’s Wartime Log”

Barry Davidson Prisoner of War logbook on the Bomber Command Museum of Canada website