Ghosts, Ghouls, And Jack O-Lanterns

 Happy Hallowe'en! 

I start today in the Byward Market, where some weeks ago I was passing through one afternoon and noticed this skeleton.

I did not notice the bee in this shot until after I looked at the shots.

This oversized skeleton was across the street, outside the main market building. A bird at its base could have cared less.

This is the front porch of a home in Little Italy.

While these are the decorations of a home in the Glebe.

More decorations around homes in the Glebe.

As some of my friends like to say that I'm a vampire, I told them this is what's left of the last member of the Van Helsing family who came after me.

This is the front window of a Glebe shop- appropriately a pet grooming shop.

And I finish with more homes in the Glebe.

This one is arranged perfectly on the door itself.

A World Where There Are Octobers

 "I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers." -Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

More shots today from the Champlain Lookout. It was a joy to be back here.

I took a panoramic shot.

One last shot from this visit. I'll return to the Gatineau Hills after the theme day.

Through A Forest Wilderness

 "The clearest way into the universe is through a forest wilderness." - John Muir

A very wise man. The American naturalist John Muir spent time in Canada as a young man before his journeys into the west. I suspect he would have liked the Gatineau Hills. I took shots of the Valley and the slopes with the developing fall colours.

There are a series of panels here along the upper wall of the geological history of the Hills and the Eardley Escarpment, stretching back far into the primordial past.

I descended to the lower area.

There is a trail here that descends down the slope.

The Champlain Lookout

 The Champlain Lookout is arguably my favourite place in the entire Ottawa Valley. Here, where the Gatineau Hills descend down the steepness of the Eardley Escarpment to the valley floor, with stunning views. Rural countryside stretches towards the Ottawa River, and on the far side is the northwest corner of the city of Ottawa- the village of Constance Bay is over there. I sat on the stone wall for a time, closed my eyes, let the wind flow across me, and felt at home. This is my sanctuary.