Friday, December 6, 2013

Random Captures

A few odds and ends shots today.

The largest gym in the athletics buildings at Carleton University is named The Raven's Nest. Since the campus teams are called the Ravens, it's a good name for the gym.


The showcase team for the last few years has been the men's basketball team. They've won nine of the last eleven university championships here in Canada, and are dominating the standings as usual this year, manhandling every team they meet.


The Rideau River runs past the university, where the rapids downstream from Hog's Back Falls finally slow down. Beyond the university, the river takes on a leisurely pace. On a brooding fall day in late October, I stood on Billings Bridge, where Bank Street crosses the river. The river will freeze over soon here, aside from a space beneath the bridge, where ducks spend the winter around the open water. This is an ideal spot for a sunset shot.


Billings Bridge is named after a local settler, who was here even before the Rideau Canal was built. Below, we have a ghost bike. There was a cyclist killed at this location in the summer, and in recent years, it's become something of a custom to erect memorials at the scene of such tragedies. I'm of a divided mind on this. On the one hand, it is a tragedy... but on the other, the amount of memorabilia placed at such a place can skew towards the morbid... or at the very least be distracting.


Finishing up with a more recent shot. Fifth Avenue Court is in the Glebe. It's a two story structure consisting of restaurants, offices, and some retail built around a closed in courtyard. The Christmas tree here in the courtyard is placed in what is otherwise used as a fountain.


16 comments:

  1. Flowers yes, but I'd never seen pumpkins at the site of an accident. The tree is very pretty and I love the winter river view. Now why is that river called "curtain"?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Christmas tree looks beautiful...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nice shot over the river. And "Hog's Back Falls" !? Sounds more like it should be in Tennessee (where I grew up) ! You covered a lot of ground today. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  4. It's always fun when your team is the winning team!

    ReplyDelete
  5. oh what a beautiful christmas tree! i'm going to be taking lots of basketball pics here shortly as my boys' season just started, so excited! we have memorials here too when someone dies in an accident...usually it's just a cross with their name on it. unless it just happened then people go out and leave flowers and stuffed animals at the scene..but then that all stops and a cross is left.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I enjoyed the odds and ends - and love the basketball shots (they're not easy to take!) The Christmas tree is gorgeous, hope it's been a good December so far!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks for taking us along on your walk, William. I'd enjoy seeing the Ravens play. It's like poetry in motion when an accomplished team takes to the court. We have the same memorial custom. Arlington National Cemetery is grappling with items left at grave sites, the most recent ones from the Iraq/Afghanistan wars, as some memorials are beginning to clutter/ overflow sites. From what I've read in the paper, I think they're going to prohibit the practice so that workers can more efficiently maintain sites.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Super selection of shots William. We have those memorials at certain spots on the roads too, always makes me feel very sad.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm having trouble picturing you at a basketball game!

    ReplyDelete
  10. @Ciel: I think it's because the time I took the pic was around Hallowe'en, hence the pumpkins. And the river takes its name from the waterfalls where it empties into the Ottawa River. The first French explorers, including Champlain, saw it and it reminded them of a curtain.

    @Weekend Windup: thank you! I'm sure I'll have more Christmas trees to come.

    @Stuart: I've taken shots of those falls before; they're named for a feature in the rocks that's been obscured by the hydro damming work that's changed elements of the course of the falls.

    @Tamera: it certainly is!

    ReplyDelete
  11. @Tanya: at some point, I'm sure this will be removed.

    @LondonLulu: it really isn't easy taking action shots. I wanted an action shot, and in that second one, they're moving fast enough already that some of the players are moving faster than the camera allows...

    @Kittie: that's a concern here at cemeteries as well.

    @Grace: I'll see such things, like crosses, along the freeways here too.

    @Norma: it's not a sport I particularly follow, but it seemed worthwhile to take pics. Besides, the name of the gym alone is well worth mentioning!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Basketball is just about the only sport I'm fond of so "go Ravens".
    That really is a beautiful tree!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I've never gotten into basketball but your pics are great of the gym! There will soon be skating on the river I guess.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I like Your short stories. Like always, I am here with pleasure, and with coffee.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thanks for the explanation, now it makes perfect sense!

    ReplyDelete
  16. @Sharon: I've got to keep my eyes out for other Christmas trees!

    @RedPat: there are people who do skate on the Rideau River, though I'd never trust a river's current under that ice.

    @Inna: thank you!

    @Ciel: you're welcome!

    ReplyDelete