Some good things happening during the state of emergency…

Local writer Elling Lien asked this question on social media after the blizzard: “What are some good things happening during this state of emergency that you’d like to see continue?” He got dozens (maybe hundreds) of wonderful answers, many of which focussed on the joy of being able to walk (snowshoe, ski, snowboard, slide) freely around the city and the sense of connection and community that engendered. There was a bit of controversy about whether or not the bonfires in the streets were a good idea but other than that a lot of agreement about everything else. One thread is here if you’d like to have a look, and it has a link to another longer thread in the Snowmaggeden 2020 Information Centre Facebook group (which is itself worth a look, though more of a mixed bag, but lots of heartwarming stories). Anyway, I didn’t have much that was original to add since I came upon the threads when they already had many responses but this morning I did think of something that nobody else had mentioned: In normal times, if you want to avoid the traffic on Military Rd. you can walk across Bannerman Park and Government House grounds but you have to take an annoying detour down to Military Rd. and back up between the two because of a high fence. However, in the current state of emergency, you can snowshoe right across that pesky fence!