At The Museum Of History

The Canadian Museum of History is a treasure, a national museum on the Gatineau side of the river. Here at the northwest corner of the property, some tulips were growing between bushes.

I descended between the exhibition wing and the curatorial wing, heading down to the river. The lower portion of the water feature was filled. A work of art rests in its midst. This is titled namaxala (To Travel Together In A Canoe), by First Nations artist Mary Anne Barkhouse, recounting a story of her grandfather helping a wolf cross a treacherous body of water in his canoe.

A short walk beyond, with the ground beyond sloping down towards the river, is this larger than life statue. Tessouat pays tribute to an Anishinaabe chief whose people controlled this area, and who made an early alliance with Europeans.

This red-winged blackbird was in the grass beyond.

He took off into these bushes, likely where the nest is. For several weeks in the spring, male blackbirds are fiercely territorial if you get close to the nest.

A look back at the exhibition and curatorial wings of the Museum. The boat in the foreground once made its living on the Ottawa River, and was featured on the Canadian one dollar bill before it reverted to becoming the loonie coin.

Canada geese were swimming on the river.

I made my way to a flowerbed that is dedicated to Malak Karsh, eminent photographer and founder of the Tulip Festival. It was here that he took one of his iconic photographs of this scene, later inscribed on the aforementioned one dollar bill. Oddly enough, the tulips in this bed weren't there. It is possible that with the high waters we had this spring that the bed might have sustained damage. Or perhaps they had bloomed very early, and the bulbs already removed. But I wanted a shot from here anyway.

Back I went. I finish off for today with the cafe terrace, where these trees were in bloom.