Odds And Ends Within The Capital

 I have some odds and ends from the last few weeks for you today and tomorrow. I start with sunflowers, planted around the east end of the property at Lansdowne Park in the Glebe. These were taken around mid-August.

A couple of days later, when I went to visit the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, my route took me on foot from where I had left the bus. The path that parallels the Aviation Parkway goes through wild grasses, bordered by woods. An ideal late summer spot to be in.

After my visit, heading to meet another bus for the return trip home, I took two shots of Beechwood Cemetery from its east side. This cemetery is a national cemetery, including sections set aside as a military cemetery. Along with many regular people, those buried here include a prime minister, and many historical figures from the city and the nation.

I chose to head back by going through the St. Laurent LRT station a short bus drive away. The LRT line has an art program, with a work of art in or around each of the stations. This one features a large wall mural, titled I Gave It All I Had, by Andrew Morrow, done in 2020.

This is close to home. This summer at a park near my place, this statue set of a dalmatian and fire hydrant was put up.

A pair of sculptures downtown that I occasionally photograph- the hunter and the prey. They stand opposite each other, with an island of vegetation between them, outside an office tower. The deer is alert, as if hearing something.

At the far side, an Indigenous hunter has the deer in his sights, reaching for an arrow. But already too late- the deer's posture is as if it already knows he's there, and is about to sprint away.

This used to be close to home to me, as I lived just up the street beyond the next intersection, but I still see it often enough. The Chinatown Arch spans over Somerset Street, with the bulk of the Chinatown neighbourhood to its west, behind me. I photographed it one evening while in between buses, on my way home.

A regular feature, though one I haven't photographed from this angle. The future main branch of the Ottawa Public Library, which will share some space with Library and Archives Canada, is near finished at Lebreton Flats. I've normally photographed it from the north or the east, but this is from the west, on the bridge passing over the Pimisi LRT station tracks. 

As mentioned above, each station has some sort of art. This station has part of that art in the adjacent water channel. This channel is an artificial channel, from the Ottawa River that feeds into the Fleet Street Pumping Station nearby. A platform in the channel provides the base for this sculpture, which looks like an eel. Appropriate, because Pimisi means eel in Algonquin, a nod to the presence of eels in the Ottawa River.

A short walk away, I stopped at the Canadian War Museum, where the national, provincial, and territorial flags are lined up on the plaza, looking dramatic against that sky. I took advantage of my  museum membership to stop in for a bite to eat- they make a good burger in the museum cafe.

And I finish today with summer flowers. These are in the Garden of the Provinces and Territories.

National Military Cemetery

It is Remembrance Day today, and I will be mostly offline, attending the national ceremony and visiting the War Museum. Back in April, on Good Friday, I visited two cemeteries in the Vanier area, east of the downtown core, and did a series on both of them. Beechwood Cemetery is a designated national cemetery, 160 acres of quiet graves, with prominent figures of local and national history buried here. It also features two sections that are designated as a National Military Cemetery. This is the newer section, and feeling that it was ideal for today, I placed these shots here.

Flags oversee the stretch of graves, and a cenotaph stands between them. There will be ceremonies here today in addition to the national ceremony at the War Memorial. The graves, laid out in the style of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which has operated since the First World War, are (or will be) final resting places for those who have served in the military, with allowance for one additional family member to be buried with them.

City Daily Photo Theme Day: Rock 'N Roll

The first day of each month is a theme day for City Daily Photo, and this month, the theme happens to be Rock 'N Roll. Check out how other members are taking on this theme at this link.

These first shots all date to Good Friday this past April. I was in the Vanier area visiting two large cemeteries. In between them was Richelieu Park, formerly home to a priest's order, now a heavily wooded property belonging to the city and housing a local museum, community centre, and library branch. There were some large boulders and flat stones that stood out in in the spring woods.

This rock wall was a short distance away from the park. Above this spot is the driveway into Beechwood National Cemetery, which is a neighbour to Richelieu Park.

These I took in late April in the Glebe, where in Central Park, these small blue flowers were blossoming among the rocks on the slope.

This one was taken during the Tulip Festival in May, when I visited Rideau Hall. I took a shot of these tulips from one perspective, and chose another for this theme because of the nearby rock, which carries a plaque commemorating a former Governor General, Lord Monck.

For the other kind of rock, I have this view from the Glowfair event in June, where a stage had been set up on Bank Street for the annual street fair, with a DJ playing electronic house music for the crowd.

Standing At Post

I am concluding my series from Beechwood Cemetery today. These two shots take in views of the newer section of the National Military Cemetery in the background.

These flags stand vigil over the section of Beechwood designated as a national cemetery for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Cross Of Sacrifice

The National Military Cemetery at Beechwood features two sections. This older section is built around the Cross Of Sacrifice, a common feature in Commonwealth War Cemeteries. This first shot features the graves of two Canadian generals from the Second World War, Charles Foulkes and Henry Crerar. It is fitting that they are buried with the veterans who survived the wars. I decided to use my photos of the other section of the National Military Cemetery for my Remembrance Day post in November.

Beechwood features sections set aside for the graves of RCMP officers and support staff. I'll show you some of that in tomorrow's closing post.

Another prominent grave I found along the way is that of Ray Hnatyshyn, a well liked politician who later became Governor General.

There is a monument here created in honour of Elizabeth Bruyere, who I mentioned in my posts from Notre Dame Cemetery, as well as St. Marguerite d'Youville, the founder of her order.

The Ottawa Police Service has an area set aside for its members here too.