The Highest Joy In Life

 On my way back, I photographed the garage, a detached portion of the main house at Moorside. The first floor was open for children's activities.

The main house as seen from the east.

And one more look at that big meadow.

It was time to go.

William Lyon Mackenzie King spent the better part of half a century in service to the country, becoming hugely influential in its direction and establishing many of the institutions we see today. He was one of the giants of the twentieth century, and when he decided it was time to step down, it was one of his colleagues, Louis St. Laurent, a man he brought into politics, who succeeded him.

He would retire here to the estate, dying two years later. He willed the estate to the people of the country he loved so much, noting in his will that he felt that "the highest joy in life is to be found in some form of public service. Instead of the state being indebted to the one who gives of his time and means to the country's affairs and to the betterment of human conditions, the obligation is the other way around."

Again, that is the sort of mindset more politicians should follow.

The path beckoned me on.

Aside from his enormous contributions to the country as a whole, his accomplishments locally included the establishment of Gatineau Park and the idea of Ottawa as a capital undergoing urban planning to really look the part of a capital.

One last shot- the woods and the low walls of stone so typical of the estate.