Knit for flood relief!

Tonight in my stitching group, a couple of the ladies shared a pattern for a cowl. All proceeds go to the Red Cross flood relief fund.

Even though I've been avoiding all patterns that call for a cable ... I'm diving in and doing it with them. Susan has promised that cables are easy and she'll teach me. She's been a very good teacher so far.

The Hell or High Water pattern.

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Heat Wave

First it rained for 40 days and 40 nights. I didn't keep track, but it sure felt like it.

Then came the floods. Fear of the unknown. Would my basement flood? Did I stock the fridge with enough water? Am I on the same power grid as the evacuated parts of Deer Run? Do I have candles and a lighter in a central location? Would I have to evacuate? (No. Yes. No. Yes. No.)

I have never in my life seen so many emergency alerts on TV. None of them were a test.

There was the horror and sadness. I've seen floods on TV before. I've seen the annual floods in New Brunswick. But I have never seen Calgary flood like this. The train tracks for my daily commute buckled and the tunnels filled with water.

I am one of the lucky ones. I can stay in my home with my cats. We are safe.

Water restrictions went into place. Quick showers. Trying to use disposable plates and cups and cutlery to avoid using the dishwasher.

The uncertainty of working from home. Am I doing okay?

And then days without rain. I watered the garden with rainwater from those 40 days and 40 nights. I'm almost out.

Today the temperature rose to 36 degrees Celsius. (97 degrees Fahrenheit). Felt higher, with the humidity. It's been a long time since I've had to deal with such hot and humid conditions. I used the timer on my phone to remind me to drink a full glass of water every hour.

The cats were limp. I found Hermione huddled up against the cold air vent in the living room while Chloe slept upstairs and looked miserable. Charlie was subdued.

None of them seemed to want to go into the basement, Charlie and Hermione wanted to stay in my vicinity.

The mayor asked people to reduce their power usage ASAP as rolling blackouts had to be initiated.

So I grabbed some catnip, some cat beds, and some blankets. I went down into the basement and rubbed catnip on the bedding. Charlie and Hermione came down first. I tried to catch Chloe but she wouldn't let me. She came down on her own.

I turned on one light and started organizing the basement a little better. When the cats were looking perkier, I turned off the light and brought out the laser pointer. We had fun playing Red Dot of Doom.

I didn't do any gardening until 9:30, when it was cool enough to be bearable. I sprayed myself with Off and got to work. I'm going to lose some of the sweet peas to the heat and lack of rain.

Now we're under alert for a severe thunderstorm. High water alerts have been issued for places north of Calgary.

There have been good moments. My sister came to Calgary this weekend to be my guest at a coworker's wedding. I got to practise some reiki on Mary-Anne and she loved it. We had a great time at the wedding and reception. It was the first time I'd seen my coworkers since the flooding started.

The next day, I took her to the labyrinth in Silver Springs. I walked behind her. I noticed at one point she paused to look at a dark butterfly.

Afterwards, she hugged me and told me that she thinks the butterfly was our father, that he was happy to see the two of us together. She said that black butterflies are meant to represent souls of the dead. I thought it was pretty.

Now I'm tired and sweaty and covered in dirt and Off. Time for a quick shower before bed.  I want my normal back.

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As the waters recede

First, Calgary's mayor is more awesome than yours. Sleep is for wusses when your city is being flooded.

Second, Calgary is also awesome. Of the roughly 100,00 people displaced, only about 2,500 ended up in evacuation shelters. The rest found shelter with family, friends, perfect strangers offering shelter online. Now volunteer organizations are forming to clean up.

Third, the generosity and "come hell or high water" attitude that Calgarians have made me realize how much I love this city.

Fourth, our office building will be open tomorrow, but our director said to check email and prepare to return to work Tuesday. We've all been given VPN access and I tested mine, so if need be, I could work from home.

Fifth, it may need be that I have to work from home, because trains aren't going into downtown yet, and I very much doubt that I could find a parking space. :-)

Sixth, today, with the waters receding, I decided to go check out the nearest flood zone. This is Mallard Point at Fish Creek Park.

(And please note that I used a telephoto lens and stayed away from the water's edge. Today was not the day to be a mermaid).

The park is definitely still flooded, but you can see how far the water rose and has receded.




The sound of the water was loud as it rushed by. I kept a safe distance.


The road and parking lot were closed to the public.


Mud where the water had been. It was thick and sticky.


A utility pole in the water.




No need to worry about ice - this whole section was flooded.


Lots of people came out to look. Many people didn't think to bring bug spray and regretted it. (I sprayed myself with Off before arriving).


I've been in this area of the park once. It was shady and very lovely. :-(














The footbridge is still intact, but the bank and the pathways leading up to it have been washed away.




The other side doesn't look so bad.




Meanwhile, ants were being ants.




I really wish I had taken photos of this area before. But I didn't know ...


One lonely picnic table remains.


An artsy moment.


The water in this area didn't make it as far as the houses, but it came close. The houses in this neighbourhood were evacuated and the residents have been allowed to return.


The flattened grass on the other side of the road shows how close it came.








Pollen gathered quickly in the wet grass.




The walking path and bike path.




It was encouraging to see deer on the other side of the river, enjoying a summer day.






The city of Calgary on duty!

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Deer in Fish Creek Park

Deer in Fish Creek Park, a photo by angelamermaid on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Totally not caring about the flood waters nearby, deer enjoy a nice snack in Fish Creek Park, Calgary.

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Carburn Park

Carburn Park, a photo by angelamermaid on Flickr.

This beautiful park is still underwater. :-(

I'm going to head out today, now that the flood waters have receded enough that it's safer to do so.

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Calgary Flooding of 2013

Everything is fine with me. I have power, I have fresh water, I'm good. I'm being conservative with water usage per a request from the city - so I'm using disposable cups and plates to delay needing to use the dishwasher.

I had to go bail out some plant containers that weren't draining well, then I covered them with plastic bags. The garden is looking fantastic this year with constant rain.

You would almost think this was a normal Friday ... but looking online and on TV, it's a disaster. This is how downtown is looking tonight - so eerie not to have lights.

#yyc #abfloods #nofilter #cbc pic.twitter.com/eN86jOUywH

— Jan Hudec (@pandaHAUSofROCK) June 22, 2013

I don't know what I'm going to do this weekend - the blood donor clinic is closed and my appointment cancelled. I can't go to my Saturday afternoon knitting meetup as it's on a closed road. I don't want to go squirrelly being holed up.

I don't know what's going to happen next week. I take the C-train to work - the tunnels to downtown are full of water. My office building is downtown - presumably partially flooded.

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