Jill Browne, from home and away

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

OK, Christmas was almost two months ago. And yet, there is a stack of abandoned Christmas trees on the side of the road in a pull-through. Why? Because in years gone by, in the early weeks of January, the city has asked people to pile the trees there between stated dates. The city then took the trees away and ground them up for mulch. Excellent.

This year, the city did something different. They told us to put the Christmas trees out where the garbage goes, on certain stated days. They picked them up. They never whispered a thing about putting them in a big pile at the side of the road. They didn’t put up the little fences they had to mark where to put the trees last year. They didn’t put up a sign saying, “Christmas trees go here.” No, they told us what to do with the trees: leave them where the garbage goes.

Come on, people. You got the same notices I did. What are those trees doing at the side of the road?

I am open to hearing sensible explanations, but “Because they always did it” isn’t one.

A big hardware store and parking lot, Shawnessy, Calgary. Photo by Jill Browne, February 5, 2011.

Grey sky with snow lightly falling, Shawnessy, Calgary. Photo by Jill Browne, February 5, 2011.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

A colder day with light snow falling and a very grey sky. The camera flare exaggerates the sun; really it was just a dull yellow hole in an even duller sky.

I didn’t mean these pics to be depressing but they really don’t have much life to them!

We had to go out foraging for food and office supplies, thus ending up at this mall in Shawnessy. The mall is at MacLeod Trail and Highway 22X, but there is a lot more of Calgary even south of there. If you haven’t been here for a while you may be surprised at how much the city has expanded. This is the last shopping I can think of this far south on MacLeoad, though.

Calgary provides free sand to residents in winter. Photo by Jill Browne, Calgary, February 4, 2011.

What passes for sand in Calgary. Photo by Jill Browne. Calgary, February 4, 2011.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

It’s Melting! The snow is melting today, as the temp has been above zero (freezing) and sunny all day. This is my favourite weather, actually: from zero to ten degrees C, sunny and calm. Very uplifting.

But the melting snow turns to ice at night or when the daytime temp goes back down, as it will do again and again. We have to put “sand” on our sidewalk to prevent people from falling.

We get the sand free from the local fire station. It’s a help yourself arrangement, and there is a limit on how much you can take, but a pail full at a time is well within the limit.

Take a look at what we call “sand”. It’s angular grit! Gives good traction but a real irritation when a pebble hits your windshield.

Hey, should I apply for work as a hand model?

Section of LRT just east of Crowchild. Photo by Jill Browne. Calgary, February 1, 2011.

Calgary's new LRT under construction. Photo by Jill Browne. Calgary, February 1, 2011.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Beautiful sunny day! Started out at -25 C and reached -6 by evening.

Last week I was surprised to see how far along the building of the west leg of the LRT (our above-ground light rail transit) is. The chunk they are working on now is massive. I hope the pictures give at least some idea of the size.

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.

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.