First day of Spring

Tuesday 20 March.

Today is the Vernal Equinox - we have exactly 12 hours daylight, and when we officially start Spring. That's not a big deal in Brisbane where the transition from Summer to Winter is marked not so much by a change in the weather but by a slight reduction in the amount of rain, and that doesn't even apply this year because SE-Qld is suffering a terrible drought.
In most of Canada, Spring is marked by a sudden greening of the trees and of the newly exposed grasses. But in Calgary the prairie winds will keep the system confused for another month. Today the city was shrouded in snow cloud and snow was plummeting down at about 10:00am, but by mid-afternoon the sun was out and all of the new snow had sublimated, leaving dry footpaths and roads. I'm told that as much snow will fall this month as in any over the winter, so the spring skiing is something to look forward to.

What is interesting is the way the ice is breaking up on the Bow river through the centre of the city. I went for a walk on Sunday afternoon along the river, wandering through Chinatown and on to Princess Island park, and into the yuppy section of town across the river, Kensington, before walking back across the city again to Dennis and Robin's house for dinner. At last I had a chance to properly check out what I've been seeing each day on the c-train - trees felled by beaver. They seem to love the decorative cherry trees, and the native poplars. I think it's just fabulous that beaver are found in the centre of the city. In fact it seems they've become a nuisance. I'm told that the City employs a worker whose job is to "relocate" beaver to other rivers (and since beaver are strongly territorial, relocation really means kills). I thought it was fascinating to see up close how the beaver had whittled away great sections of the trees partly to get at the cambium under the bark, partly to store away to eat in the winter, and partly just for fun. Each year tress have to be wrapped with chicken-wire mesh to prevent the trees from being destroyed. Also impressive is that people regularly fish for trout a couple of blocks from the city CBD, under the shadows of high-rise condominiums. Calgary must be one of the cleanest cities in the world.