From One Extreme to the Other

The  sun is shining!  Let's go for a picnic!!!!

The Holbrook Sanctuary is a special place that is perfect for young families.  It's only a 15 minute drive away from our camp and everyone was thrilled to make the visit.

A beach bar-b-que on the east coast.  Yes, we did serve fruit and veggies too.  :)

As we frolicked in the water, raced around the fields, chased the dog and skipped flat stones on the inlet, our family out west was facing the worst flooding in recorded history for their area.

Watch the video coverage here:   http://youtu.be/vBt5MISANm4 

Lunch was a somber affair as cell phones came to life. Calls, one after the other, brought us up to date on current conditions, fears and hopes, as waters rose and land disappeared in our beloved Canmore, Alberta.

As of this writing, our families and their homes, remain high and dry.  Our friends, who had been evacuated are now back in their own beds.  Some of our buddies didn't make out well at all.  Tears came unbidden, as we watched the destruction of their home, caught on video.  Canmore remains cut off from the outside world-- the TransCanada Highway being washed out on both ends.  The topography of the Cougar Creek area is now unrecognizable.  Parks, walkways, hiking trails and houses all wiped away in the blink of an eye.

As in all stories of natural disaster, there are notes of joy.  People are rising to the occasion and helping each other.  The citizens of Canmore are lauding their public service crews, the municipal, provincial and national "help teams" that have rushed to their rescue.  Each and every hotel, motel, inn and B&B in Canmore has opened their doors to the evacuees.  Neighbours are helping neighbours.

The force of that violent water was terrifying.  The clean up will take time and money.  The fact that no lives were lost in our town (at least three people were lost down-river) is so totally amazing to me.  There are so many things to be grateful for.  Canmore, we love you and are praying for you all.