Along The Shore

 There is a pump house down here near the shore of Kingsmere Lake.

The lake is particularly lovely in the autumn. Gatineau Park has cottages, including on the far shore, grandfathered in after the establishment of the federal park, but not that many of them.

I headed towards the lake house.

Along the way I photographed up slope to where the cottages are, through the green turning to gold.

Here by the lake house, another look at the lake.

A place to change for swimming, or to store a canoe or two. King enjoyed his time at this lake, and being social, would invite his guests for a swim or time on the waters.

Divine Unrest

 Another look at the room of Isabel Mackenzie King.

Between 1915 and 1922, King sustained a number of personal losses. His sister Bella, parents, and brother Max died. The deaths would stay with him for the rest of his life, leaving him in a state of melancholy.

The fine dishes can be found here in a cabinet in the parlour.

The living room in the cottage doubled as a study. When King was inside, he would usually be found here. Long summers outside the city regardless, he was a cabinet minister and then a prime minister, and there was work that had to be done.

This space particularly appeals to me. It feels very much like a home.

His parents lived long enough to see him succeed, as a lawyer and then as a politician. They would not live to see him become the prime minister, and his great accomplishments still were ahead of him after they passed on, but needless to say, they were proud of him.

Of the losses in his life, the one he felt deepest was the death of his mother.

It was time to head down to Kingsmere Lake, which lies down among the trees, its waters just visible.

City Daily Photo Theme Day: Best Of The Year

 My last of this set of favourite shots of the year takes us out to Gatineau Park, a federal park run by the National Capital Commission over on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River. The NCC runs shuttles into the park on weekends, and I took one in the fall, stopping at the Champlain Lookout, where the southern flank of the Gatineau Hills descends to the valley floor along the Eardley Escarpment. The Ottawa River can be seen, with the limits of Ottawa on the far shore. This place is a delight to visit, high above the valley floor.

Another visit made on this fall day was to the Mackenzie King Estate. William Lyon Mackenzie King was one of our greatest prime ministers, and no one was more dominant in the Canadian political scene in the first half of the 20th century, seeing the country through much of the Depression and the Second World War. He bought land up here early on in his political career, inspired by nature, and would make it his weekend and summer retreat, starting with cottages he called Kingswood. This is the main cottage.

The land was along one shore of Kingsmere Lake- the name preceded his time here, but must have convinced him this was his place to call a home.

As time went on and he became prime minister, he built a house that he could properly entertain the great and the good in. The second house on the property he called Moorside, and here his ideas of landscaping, gardening, and being engaged with nature took full form, alongside his ideas for the country.

He was a man of staunch Scots Presbyterian sensibility and sentiment, and among his ideas were follys- structures that served no purpose but sentiment, salvaged from buildings that were being demolished, and turned into something new on his property.

This is expressed best in the Abbey Ruins, which blends together pieces from homes in Ottawa, as well as sections of the former Center Block on Parliament Hill, and even stones from the printing press of his own grandfather.

King left his estate to the people of the country he loved so much, as thanks for the opportunity to serve them in leadership. A visit to this estate uplifts the soul.

My last stop on this visit was Pink Lake, not that far away from the estate. Named after a family of settlers from the 19th century, it is a meromictic lake- a rarity among lakes in that the layers do not mix, and there is low oxygen content in the deeper layers. A hiking trail winds around it.

It is a peaceful place, with a life all to its own.

Moorside

 Two more looks at Kingsmere Lake today.

I stared back up the slope to the cottages.

And looked back at the water.

Here I approached the guest cottage.

Most people proceed from here to Moorside along the main path. But for those who know it, there's a secondary path, and the better route.

Finding a quote by King from his journals reassures the visitor that they are on the right path.

The path leads to a wide meadow, and here we have two displays. As King became prime minister and leader of the Liberal Party, he understood that his country retreat needed to reflect that- a proper home to entertain guests, including world leaders. Moorside would be that home.

The meadow is wide, and surrounded on three sides by trees. This is what makes it my favourite approach to Moorside. 

And there's the house, at the far side of the meadow.