Demolition

Today the house came down.

The excavator arrived last night, and spent a couple of hours crushing tree branches, and then began digging to the water line. This morning – more work on the water line (I assume), and then it got to work smashing down the house.

All the neighbours stopped by to watch the show – some of us knew each other – others introduced themselves. Most were angry, at the loss of the trees, at the damage, the mess.  But we were all excited to watch the really big machine get to work.

Maureen

Life in the Inner City

After two years of renovations (bathroom, and front entry repair two years ago, kitchen, and back entry repair last year), we were looking forward to a quiet summer. Except the house next door has been sold to a developer and is going to be torn down and replaced by a big (I assume) very expensive duplex. This summer there will be at least six tear-downs and builds in our little neighbourhood, and new sidewalks. I expect to be working to the sounds of demolition and hammers and cement trucks. We’ve already had trees crashing down, as the five gorgeous spruce trees next door were cut down Friday night.

I’m trying to not focus on the trauma of it all – although there will be many. The first ­– losing a lovely neighbour. The second – losing the trees. While this will affect my garden (it’s in a new ecosystem now), the birds nesting in them have suffered a greater loss. But perhaps they’ll nest in my garden, instead. And we have more light in the house right now. We’ll try to enjoy the light and the view to the west until we lose it to the new building going in.

Maureen

Marble Canyon

For the last day of our mountain weekend, we hiked up to Marble Canyon, a brief climb up stairs and pathways, on ice and mud, surrounded by running water and birdsong. I could feel the energy of growth surging under my feet, and a softness in the wind, chill when it rose off the ice or out of the canyon. It was deeply peaceful and yet bursting with energy. We heard a boom like a cannon ­– we guessed it was a great chunk of ice breaking off a canyon wall. Later we spotted little icebergs floating down.

All through the trip we watched water levels. Spring in the mountains began a week ago, with a sudden jump in temperature. Water levels were low when we arrived; after three days of heat, they were rising. The Bow was growing, starting its journey from Bow Glacier to Hudson’s Bay. Tokum Creek at Marble Canyon doesn’t have as far to go – it’ll roar down to the Columbia River and then on to Portland, Oregon.

We watched orange and black butterflies, what my older daughter claimed were mutant mosquitoes, and a couple of deer across the river from the Fenlands trail. As we left Banff National Park we saw a great tower of smoke, from a planned burn. Helicopters buzzed by, carrying water to control the fire.

And I found a new story. There’s something about wild places that trigger ideas for me. That’s what I brought home.

Maureen