Ends And Odds

More odds and ends today. Spring blossoms are a delight to see. These are close to home, taken in late May.

In late May I attended the opening night of an exhibit at the War Museum. The exhibit was about Canada and the American Civil War. It was a busy event, and I've been back since to photograph the exhibit. But on that opening night, this artist was working out in the lobby, on a painting of Mary Ann Shadd. She was a free woman who came to Canada and established an abolitionist newspaper. He told me the painting would end up at Carleton University's school of journalism. A fitting spot.

Close to home again, this kitty is one of a pair in a home down the street from me.

I photographed this ad on a bus shelter for one reason. The placement of the hands on the watch made the watch look mad.

On an afternoon in early June, I went with friends to see Pressure out at a movie theatre in Kanata. This is the film about the meteorologist whose forecast affected the timing of D-Day. En route, we picked up one of the guys, and the route took us through Riverside South, part of the Gloucester area, and across to Barrhaven to the west. This meant crossing the Vimy Memorial Bridge, which spans the Rideau River. This was my first time seeing it.

Returning later on, I took another shot.

Also in early June, the Mexican embassy had an event at the Horticulture Building at Lansdowne Park. This vivid display- all sand.

The skies were darkening that day. A thunderstorm was en route.

This was a storefront display downtown one day in June that got a laugh out of me.

I finish with this view from the west on a late June walk. The future main branch of the Ottawa Public Library, which will share space with some facilities from Library and Archives Canada, continues to have work done, most of it inside now.

Odds And Ends

 I have some odds and ends from the last few weeks. This is Glebe-St. James United Church in the Glebe in early May, taken from the west side, which I haven't photographed before. I usually photograph the church from the east.

This oddity was in an event I was passing through.

One morning when I was heading over to photograph tulips at Dow's Lake, I noticed this little one on the sidewalk.

During the same visit, I photographed the lake itself.

On another May day, when I was photographing tulips over on the Gatineau side of the Ottawa River, one of my stops included the Museum of History. The water feature, which spills over a series of terraces and makes its way to the Ottawa River, was running.

Down below, two Canada geese went for a swim in the pool that contains this work of art by indigenous artist Mary Anne Barkhouse. It is called 'namaxsala (To Travel In A Boat Together) and is based on a story from her grandfather, telling of how he gave a lift to a wolf through treacherous waters.

Heading back across the Ottawa River on the Alexandra Bridge, I paused to photograph the shoreline.

This sticker is on a car near my place, and meets with my approval.

On Victoria Day, coming back from Dow's Lake, I photographed these flags outside the Logan Building, near home. The Union flag is flown with the Canadian flag on such occasions.

Also close to home. This house is relatively new, and an example of infill housing. Oddly, it does work to fit in with the neighbourhood.

Spring blossoms, a short lived sight.

One night passing through Lansdowne Park, I photographed the Aberdeen Pavilion.

Garden In Summer

 Each season I come to the Landscapes of Canada Gardens at the Canadian Museum of Nature. On the west side of the property, plants, shrubs, grasses, and trees of four distinct ecosystems are found here. I came on Canada Day, with ominous skies looming. We start with Boreal Forest, which covers a vast portion of the country.

The west entrances of the property include these bricks, usually from family members honouring other family.

Prairie Grassland is the next section, with grasses, flowers, and shrubs growing tall in summer.

Arctic Tundra features the plants of the far north, planted amid rocks, and doing quite well in the summer here.

An iceberg sculpture by the late artist and inventor William Lishman crosses the path.

I always try to get a shot from the west boundary of the property, with Arctic Tundra, the iceberg, and the Museum together.

The last ecosystem is Mammoth Steppe, planted around a statue family of Mammoths, consisting of plants that existed in their day and still thrive today. The Queens Lantern is seen beyond, with the Moon inside. The Museum was exceedingly busy; I stopped in for a drink and continued on my way.

Courage Under Fire

 Alvie Burden came from Saskatchewan, and served in the European theatre during the Second World War, seeing action in Italy and the Netherlands.

Piercey Augustus Haynes joined the Navy after restrictions were lifted, serving during World War Two.

Eva May Roy went to war in the Second World War as part of the Canadian Women's Army Corps, and later made a career of it. Anderson Abbott was a black doctor who went south to serve with the Union Army during the Civil War.

Clarence Este saw a lifetime of service starting in the Korean War, and carrying on with various missions in the years afterwards. Jowel Fils-Aime saw peacekeeping and active duty operations around the world, but PTSD led him to take his life. The Carty brothers all served in the RCAF during the Second World War.

Black men and women have taken part in many of Canada's military history, from the Revolution to the War of 1812 and the Civil War.

They fought with distinction in two World Wars that changed the world.

And they have done the same ever since.

I found this exhibit very well curated. One of the strengths of the War Museum is telling the very human stories of individuals.