Landscapes Of Canada In The Fall

 It is my habit each season to stop by at the Canadian Museum of Nature and document the Landscapes Of Canada Gardens. This is on the west side of the property, and features trees, bushes, shrubs, flowers, plants, and grasses from four distinct ecosystems in the country. The first is Boreal Forest, an ecosystem occupying a vast swath of the nation.

Larch trees are characteristic of the boreal forest. These are deciduous trees whose leaves look like coniferous needles. Each fall they start to turn golden yellow and drop. There's a tree here that was just in the first stages of that.

This tree was at its peak.

Nearby, signage for the Prairie Grasslands, the next ecosystem represented here. Grasses, plants, and flowers from the Canadian west have been transplanted here.

This time of year, their growing season has been completed.

A steel sculpture crosses the path. This iceberg is the work of the late Canadian inventor and artist William Lishman.

The third ecosystem lies between the sculpture and the west perimeter of the property. The Arctic Tundra is represented by plants, grasses, and shrubs planted among the rocks. They do well over an Ottawa summer.

The fourth ecosystem lies on the north side of the path as it curves back to the museum. It is the Mammoth Steppe, with plants that existed in the days of those animals and that still thrive today. These pretty purple blooms caught my eye.

The path continued, with another tree at its peak.

A sculpture family of mammoths is found here at the end of the path. Beyond is the Museum, with its glass lantern containing a model of the Moon.

Autumn Glories Around The Region

 Returning to my autumn series once more. As the shuttle from the Gatineau Hills was returning, it stopped long enough for me to take this shot in Gatineau.

Back on the Ottawa side of the river, I stopped by the War Museum for a late lunch. The trees across the street were bright red.

After lunch, I headed downtown. The Canadian Firefighters Memorial is near the War Museum, and some of the trees and bushes around it were at their peak. The Memorial includes the large statue of a firefighter, and a wall of names of firefighters who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

These colours are close to home.

One day I stopped by Lansdowne Park, where I photographed more fall colours at the east end of the property. There was a flea market going on.

Today I finish downtown with a sculptural pair I've always liked, standing out against fall colours. An Indigenous hunter crouches on this side of the property, reaching for an arrow and getting his bow ready. At the far side stands a deer, posed as if it has already heard him and is about to bolt.

Biodiversity

 Staircases lead from one level of the NAC to the next, and in the core of these staircases hang these chandelier installations which are quite eye catching.

A wooden tree was placed in a lobby area nearby, by a local artist. The Ottawa 200 Biodiversity Tree features two hundred species, past and present, in the Ottawa Valley. Ben LaChapelle is the artist. I found it fascinating.

It was time to go. It had been a long day, and I was not up to doing the dusk to dawn circuit of Nuit Blanche. I departed the NAC. This is part of the 2017 additions, a glass tower that includes circuitry to project images on the glass.

I crossed the street, taking another look back. It had been quite a day.

NAC Sightings

 Continuing where I left off in this visit to the National Arts Centre during the Ottawa Bicentennial celebrations, this shirt and skirt date to 1984. At the time, k.d. lang was participating in the Edmonton Folk Festival.

Two works of art exhibited together, both by First Nations artists- a painting and a canoe. Frank Polson painted Anishnabek Traditional Territory in 2020, commissioned by the NAC. Pinock is an Anishinaabe Algonquin who specializes in making canoes in the traditional fashion. This one dates to 2019.

Nearby, an informal stage area, lit dimly at first, with music shortly to come, and dancers off to the right. The audience was waiting.

This area is part of the 2017 additions. This large staircase has always caught my eye.

For today, I finish with this. The late Canadian classical pianist Glenn Gould owned this piano, and it was willed to the NAC. It is kept here, still in tune, and occasionally played in performance.