Calgary Chinatown Flooded

From the top of the hill overlooking Chinatown everything looks deceptively peaceful but down below the Bow has overflowed its banks and flooded China town. You can see the Government Harry Hays Building, the Delta Bow Valley Hotel and a Chinese restaurant being flooded. The whole streets of the downtown core are flooded. It will be until the middle of next week when people will be allowed back into the downtown core. All electricity has been eliminated in the downtown core.

Calgary Flooding Disaster

On Thursday , June 18, there was a retirement party for me at the school. It had been raining all week. When the party was over at 5:00 pm, I was going to go downtown and the radio in my car said the downtown was being evacuated and close to 75,000 people would have to leave their homes. I went home and turned on the television and watched the news coverage of the Bow River overflowing its banks and flooding the downtown core.  My house is located on the top of Edmonton Trail that is a road that leads out of the downtown core. It is a 45 minute walk from my house into the downtown core.  The downtown core is built on the flood plain of the Bow River.  Historically, has overflowed its banks during the spring time. Loggers in the 1890' used to float the logs all the way from  Kananaskis country and down the Bow River to Prince's Island in Calgary where a sawmill was located.  Today , Prince's Island is a forested city park where music concerts and festivals are held in the summer. Prince's Island is connected to North Calgary by a pedestrian bridge and another bridge connects the island to the southern downtown core.  The building of dams upstream at Seebee and Bearspaw have prevented the Bow River from overflowing its banks and given the City a false sense of security that the businesses and residences are safe to build in the flood plain.  When there is a larger than normal rainfall that falls in a short period of time all the tributaries flowing into the Bow and Elbow River overflows onto the floodplain.   In the photograph, I have posted,  the green area in the middle of the river is Prince's Island that is currently underwater.  Normally, if you were on the island the river would be 15 to thirty feet below the island.

Horticulture Blogsite

I am retiring from teaching . As a teacher, I have taught for 30 years. Life is a series of chapters and it is time to turn the page and begin the last chapters outside the classroom. I will dabble in horticultural projects and will eventually become a certified Canadian immigration agent. When I become an immigration agent, I will start an immigration blogsite.  After teaching horticulture, I realize there is a need to share knowledge with the general public with respect to creating an environmentally friendly lifestyle. In our urban world, it is possible to create small gardens and create small eco-friendly environments by understanding the micro-environments that surrounds all of humanity. I have created a blogsite on horticulture to share my green knowledge that I learned from my grandfather and father who grew their own produce in their gardens to feed our families.
The horticulture blogsite:    http://www.mrleeshortilcultureblogsite.blogspot.ca

In the school greenhouse where I teach there is tulip bulb that is at least 10 years old. It was purchased by a former horticulture teacher named Bill Turner. Bill purchased the bulb for $75 which was a good sum of money to spend on one bulb.  Bill grew the bulb into a mature plant and was able to bloom the plant occasionally.  Mr. Turner started the horticulture program as a locally developed course 25 years ago and began the first program by building cold frames to grow plants on the school grounds. When the school was renovated, Bill designed the indoor greenhouse that exists in the school today.  After retiring for only  five years Bill Turner contracted ALS and within year he passed away. I found Bill's tulip plant growing in the greenhouse . A former Horticulture teacher told me about Bill's plant and that the tulip liked a particular location in the greenhouse.  I was careful to keep the tulip in its favorite location and not to disturb its micro-climate.  On the first anniversary of Bill's passing, I walked into the greenhouse to find the tulip in full bloom with it's multi-floral orange red bloom. From that point on, I have called it's Bill's flower.   Last week, I noticed a small spike forming at the base of the tulip . Within a week the spike has grown ten inches and is now in full bloom.  I have had the privilege of watching this flower bloom twice.  The flower seems to be thanking me by blooming once more before I leave. I hope the legacy of this flower remains for others to enjoy in the future.

Horticulture : School courtyard Before and After

In September of 2012,  the enclosed school courtyard had been neglected for five years. I took the horticulture class into the courtyard in the fall and showed them how to prune the trees and shrubs, remove the weeds, and recondition the soil.  In April and May of 2012, the horticulture class were shown how to spade the soil and remove the emerging weeds.  A sustainable garden was planted in the flower beds that included: potatoes, lettuce, spinach, carrots, onions, swiss chard, tomatoes, red peppers, sunflowers, string beans, peas and radishes. Moreover, bedding plants grown in the school greenhouse such as snapdragons, balsam, marigolds,  and nicotiana were transplanted into the garden beds.