Ottawa In The Deep Chill Of Winter

Late in January I was heading to the Portage Bridge to photograph the view downstream on the Ottawa River. Before getting there, I paused to look down at Richmond Landing, which is close by, with a view of the frozen river and Parliament and the Supreme Court downstream.

A short walk away I took this shot of the Canadian War Museum.

I've never photographed this before, but have crossed over it many times. This is a channel of the Ottawa River, artificially created at some point in the past. It feeds into a water pumping station a short distance away from here, and then goes out through what feels like a natural channel, rejoining the main body of the river at Richmond Landing.

Parallel to it here is the track for the city LRT line. This is Pimisi Station. One LRT train can be seen pulling out to the west, while the train in the foreground is about to leave, going east. The system's phase one is completed (with a whole lot of kinks and delays along the way), and expansion for phase two is underway.

A short walk from there, I was heading for Little Italy when I noticed these two snowmen in a front yard.

In early February I was walking through Major's Hill Park on a snowy day. I looked back towards the Chateau Laurier.

And then I looked at the National Gallery of Canada.

For today I finish with this view of the Gallery's neighbour, Notre Dame Basilica. You might notice the snow fence at the right side of the picture. It's providing some cover for the tulip beds beneath the snow. Tomorrow is the theme day, and we'll be back to more of this after that.

A Cold Day On The Farm

 Nepean was a city in its own right prior to the amalgamation of the former region of Ottawa Carleton into one city years ago. On the day I went down to run some errands here, I took the bus down. Coming back I decided to take some shots from the bus passing by a specific location.

The Central Experimental Farm is a government research farm dating back to 1886, consisting of over a thousand acres of land. Crops are grown here and livestock kept. The place also is home to our national museum for agriculture. Paths and roadways among the various parts of the farm allow for people to pass through. Here, as I passed along the section of the farm at the southwest corner, I took several shots as I went. The snow was falling lightly.

Winter Activity

 Starting off with the same morning as I left off yesterday, here is some of the playground equipment in Dundonald Park.

The following morning I was in the park at dawn.

The following day I took a walk, bound for Lowertown. I stopped on the terrace below the Chateau Laurier for this shot of a snowman mounted on top of the terrace wall. Parliament Hill was in the background.

In Major's Hill Park, multiple snowmen had been put up. This one has the Connaught Building in the background.

Someone got creative with some snow on the trunk of this tree and made it look like Tigger was about and had bounced himself into the trunk. Off in the background is the American embassy.

My errands done, I walked back through the courtyards that one finds in the Byward Market and took this shot.

A little while later, passing by the National Arts Centre, I noticed the statue of Canadian jazz great Oscar Peterson. Someone had added a scarf and toque- gestures often done by members of the community with statues here to provide these items to those who might need them. A face mask bearing a logo for the Ottawa Senators team completed the look.

On another day in January I was out in Nepean running an errand. This bush was sticking partially out of the snow and made for a rather abstract shot. 

Snowstorm

For the next little while, I'll be showing you some of Ottawa in the winter. One morning in mid-January I was out during the immediate aftermath of an overnight snow storm. Snow was clinging to the trees in the early morning light here in the Glebe.

Here is one of the entrances down into Central Park, a ribbon park in the north end of the neighbourhood. I've been photographing this area, both east and west side, for a post I do each year showing the transition from winter into spring. This looks down into the east side.

And this looks over into the west side.

I continued on with my walk, into Centretown. Early morning drivers were making their way carefully along this street.

This is the Church of St. Barnabas, an Anglican church.

A short walk further, this view drew my eye.

Dundonald Park is close to home for me. This was the view in the park that morning.

And here it was the following morning. People had come out to make snowmen and snow forts during the intervening 24 hours.

This was one of the snow forts. We'll pick up here tomorrow.

Eclectic

 Today I have some odds and ends shots, taken at various points from December until recently.

This fellow was in a hotel lobby in the Byward Market one December day, appropriately masked for Covid.

Later that same day, I was passing near the Government Conference Centre as evening was falling. This building was initially built as the main train station downtown, and for many years has served as a meeting space for the federal government. At present the Senate is meeting here while work on Parliament Hill continues. A close look will see the crescent moon nestled between portions of the building.

A few minutes later, crossing the Mackenzie King Bridge, I took this shot of the skyline to the southwest. Confederation Park lies in the foreground. The Moon is above the office towers here.

Crossing the street and taking this view, I took a shot I've taken many times. The National Arts Centre is off at left, Parliament Hill in the background, the Rideau Canal running below, and the Chateau Laurier and Conference Centre at right.

On New Year's Eve during the day, I was down around the Portage Bridge to photograph the river, and took this shot beforehand, showing Richmond Landing in snow.

Nearby is Cathedral Hill, occupied by two churches. St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church is in the foreground, while the spire of Christ Church Cathedral, an Anglican church, is in the background.

In January I decided to get a tattoo.

Just a temporary tattoo, something from my local comic shop, for a crossover event presently underway in the Marvel titles. Believe me, I have no interest in getting a permanent tattoo.

These four shots are taken within the World Exchange Plaza, an office building downtown. Five whale sculptures hang in the central space, a pair of narwhals and three belugas. It's been quite awhile since I've photographed them.

All of them can be seen in a row here.

This Covid instruction mask was seen outside a pharmacy in early February. Whoever the doggie is, one hopes they got treats for being such a good dog during this photo shoot.

And this is from recent days, the dust cover of a graphic novel by Canadian writer Jeff Lemire. The Question is a fairly obscure DC character (I first was acquainted with him in the pages of a year-long series years ago called 52). This recent graphic novel, The Question: The Deaths Of Vic Sage features dialogue on the dust cover that rings true.

Garden

The Landscapes Of Canada Gardens are on an exterior portion of the Canadian Museum of Nature, and I photograph it each season. And with finishing off my December tour of the Museum yesterday, it was appropriate to add this winter post for the place today as a coda to the series. Early this month I came here one afternoon. The Gardens are at the west end of the property, and include plants, grasses, shrubs, and other vegetation from four distinct ecosystems in the country. The first is the Mammoth Steppe, which features plants that have survived into the current day and were around in the age of the mammoths. A family of three mammoths are on the path with the plants buried beneath the snow at the moment. Note the dogs walking their human in the background.

 

This view from the sidewalk has some grasses of the Arctic Tundra sticking up through the snow. The sculpture of an iceberg occupies the path beyond it.

The path leads straight through the sculpture. This was conceived by the late Canadian inventor, pilot, and artist Bill Lishman, who's best known to the world at large for developing ultralight aircraft and leading geese and other birds in migrations.

Signage along the path details things about each ecosystem, such as this one about the tundra. Smaller signage identifies various plant species individually.

This view from the path looks towards the Museum. Prairie Grassland, the next ecosystem, lies beneath the snow, but come spring the long grasses and flowers start growing fast.

The last of the ecosystems is Boreal Forest. While most of the shrubs are under the snow, the trees are not. Among the other organisms here are lichens, occupying the trunk of a dead tree that actually predates the Gardens.

The tree I mentioned above can be seen in this shot, its trunk remaining upright at left, while the other trees are waiting on the spring to wake them up out of winter slumber.

One last shot of the Museum, taken from the sidewalk as I departed.