03/06/2023
April 27, 2019: a ridiculous late snowfall landed right in the middle of our first . was maybe the only city out of the 159 cities that took part and received snow! Not just a bit but a full on blizzard. The evening had winds up to 80km/hr and almost 20cm of snow came down. There were serious snow drifts and the idea of a . Nonetheless, it didn't slow people down one bit. still went out to for pond dipping while another team was at digging out plants to photograph. We made up an impromptu challenge for people to document the carnage that the storm had on our urban environment. Lots of photos submitted to that weekend were of fallen or cracked trees throughout the city. It was referred to as a ! Still, lots of wildlife was out and about and busy waiting for spring to get itself back in order.
While first promoting the CNC in Calgary there was a lot of pushback that we couldn't actually "compete" fairly in the event with cities that had warmer climates. Each year the event is held the week after and has since 2016. It's not the ideal time to observe in our part of the world but there are plenty of amazing things to see. It was never about winning the global event but inspiring people to engage and interact with their local environment in ways they wouldn't normally consider. There's never a bad time to get outside and it's challenging moments like these that leave you humbled at the end of day knowing you tried your best!
