You can see just how high the water was at the worst of the flood by all the debris caught in the chain link fencing here along the bike path at the Bow River. Water levels have gone down but the rivers are still high, dangerously fast and very muddy - the colour of brown gravy.
The cleanup has commenced in earnest in southern Alberta.
Wednesday the garden club called for volunteers to deliver plant baskets to Calgary flood victims. Over 100 of us filled our cars and trucks with gorgeous hanging baskets and plants donated by growers in Edmonton, Red Deer and Brooks, and fanned out over the worst hit areas. The goal was to leave colour and cheer on doorsteps of those worst hit by the flooding. Our little group drove to Bowness, one of the devastated districts. We were met by the sounds of pumps, and air dryers filling the air and drowning out the bird song. Hardworking volunteers and home owners are still doing the grim work of drying out their basements. Much of what was household treasure, now reduced to smelly garbage, has been already loaded into trucks and taken to the dump.
Hanging in the trees and taped to windows are handmade signs festooned with hearts, thanking all the volunteers who had swarmed the community as soon as the waters receded to help with the grim work of shoveling out, and as we slowly moved down the street, people, still splattered with mud, came out to greet us, thank us for the flowers and told us stories. Most of them can't live in their houses yet - some don't have hot water or electricity, and some houses have been condemned and must be bulldozed, but they are there, every day working, cleaning, drying.
And my goodness, what stories! -stories of water rising so fast they barely had time to get out and panic about what to take. Stories of hard working police and firemen checking house by house, stories of rescuing the neighbour's dog and cat and running for it with helicopters hovering overhead telling people to hurry. Stories of grit and determination to make it alright again, to not give up. Over and over the comment "it's only stuff - we were lucky" while they hugged us and thanked us for the plants because they were standing in a ruined garden amid piles of dried mud.
So, I went looking for normal and found it in my own garden. The blue poppy is going to seed and I hope will run wild in that garden bed. The bug and I had a staring contest for a while as he gently rocked in the breeze.
The weather continues to be wild and unpredictable though so I was chased in by thunder and lightening and another downpour which filling the rain barrel in record time and caused more havoc in some of the already flooded areas in the city. A bit of calm is in order I'm thinking. Mother Nature needs to take a deep breath.
The Butchart mansion and various buildings on the site now make up restaurants, gift shops etc but the real show is the garden - ranging from the sunken garden which was the original quarry, to formal rose gardens, a Japanese garden (my favourite), seasonal displays of flowers - the dahlias and roses are showing off right now. Mrs. Butchart's personal garden is still there - behind a white picket fence. Our pal Gwen has a seasons pass so we were treated to a visit, dinner, and the Victoria Symphony in the band shell offering Greig and Elgar for light summer listening. A treat for sure and big thanks to Gwen for suggesting the outing.
