Ends And Odds In The Capital City

 Early in August while I was attending the Busker Festival, I noticed these two birds pecking away in the spacious planter I was sitting beside. They blended in well.

A short walk away, I noticed something I've walked past countless times at the corner of Bank and Sparks Streets without noticing. I believe the building at this corner might have once been a bank, hence the crest.

A bit further along on Sparks Street is the current location of a sculpture honouring Terry Fox, the Canadian marathon runner who lost a leg to cancer, set out to run across the country from east to west, and lost his fight to cancer before he could finish it. Millions run marathons for cancer research in his name each year.

Some photo bloggers do hip shots. I inadvertently did one during a busker performance, but liked the shot.

This summer has been one of rain. One day at home I noticed the building dark clouds outside my apartment building. Excuse the ropes- there's balcony work being done on my side of the building. To the west, the buildings across the way are government buildings.

The storm clouds built. When it unleashed, it was a furious storm.

With rain comes rainbows. This was on another day in the north end of the Glebe.

August and September is the time of sunflowers. These are outside Abbotsford House, a former 19th century farmhouse that sees new use as a senior's community centre.

On another day in the north end of the Glebe, I saw this rabbit early in the morning. They are not animals of the heat of the day; one is more likely to see them first thing, or in the evening and overnight.

En route to visit a museum, my route took me through the Riverview neighbourhood. I stopped along the way to head down a street and photograph a church. This is the Church of Christ, nestled in a quiet area.

My last shot that day was taken close to home, outside an LRT station. This compass is thematically First Nations, and I recall seeing a similar one outside City Hall.

City Daily Photo Theme Day: White

 The first day of each month is a theme day for members of City Daily Photo, and for March, that theme is White. Check out what others are doing with the theme right here.

For me, this theme evokes winter. Snow certainly looks white- strictly speaking, it's translucent, but our brain sees it as white. And there's no shortage of snow in an Ottawa winter. I went out from home one night in January to the corner shop- with that white sign up ahead above the door. White headlights of a car on the road and the falling snow made the rest of the picture. Walking back headlong into the wind was an issue.

Coming back into my apartment, I took a shot outside to the west. The buildings you can see are government buildings. Completely lost in the snow was a condo tower, out beyond the taller building.

The following night was clear as I passed through the Glebe. The building at center is a community center and former church. The moon was bright and white in the sky.

One day while coming back from the Portage Bridge, I photographed textures in the snow, particularly the drifting.

Snow was falling on another winter day, close to home, when I took these shots.

A couple of days later, in late January, I was passing by the War Memorial, which had snow coating it late in the day as more snow fell.

Passing near the Holocaust Monument one afternoon, I took these two shots of the field beside it, concentrating on the white of the snow, and including the shadow of trees, the lines of other trails, and the texture of the snow itself.

One evening while taking shots for Winterlude, I photographed this ice bench outside the Lord Elgin Hotel. The white spotlight behind it did the trick.

Just up the street, a lot of snow. This is a descending walkway, not shoveled in the winter, with a raised flowerbed, covered in snow.

And I finish with this view of the War Memorial in winter conditions, taken in the area on a snowy day while photographing for Winterlude.

Winter

 Last week we got hit by a rather significant snowstorm. It started around nine or so in the evening. I went for a walk while the snow was relatively light, out into the Glebe. There was wind, but the buildings provided an effective buffer. This first shot includes the domed structure of the Glebe Community Centre at left.

Passing through one street, I saw rabbit tracks come out of one driveway in the fresh snow, move along the sidewalk, and promptly go back into the next driveway. Rabbits are less active in winter, and this one must have decided that a return to the burrow was a good idea.

Another shot, closing in on home.

The brunt of the storm came in shortly after twelve thirty in the morning. This first shot out the window had the condo tower starting to fade in the distance.

Ten minutes later, it was gone.

The following night, after the storm had ended, another walk in the Glebe was called for. The roads in the neighbourhood are generally quiet at night, and were passable. The sidewalks, not so much. I kept to the roads.

I passed by Glebe-St. James United Church.

Snow was in piles along the roads. Some sidewalks had been shoveled or plowed.

A final shot, close to home. After this storm, another major snowstorm hit the city. The snow banks are now taller than me.

Capital Views

 One day in September I went up with a friend further up the Ottawa Valley into Renfrew County on a moody day. Round Lake is in the heart of the county, with two provincial parks on its shores. The Bonnechere River travels through here en route to the Ottawa River. I took two shots.

Late one day, near the last light of the day, on my way home, I photographed the Glebe Community Centre, home of the raccoon sculptures I showed you yesterday.

A few minutes makes a considerable difference. This is a few streets further north in the Glebe, and I took it to show how dark this particular street really is at night.

In early October I gave blood. In the past, my only side effect has been the occasional bruising around the point of puncture afterwards, but it's been several years since that happened. This time, this bruise was the result. 

An old friend in the night sky. The constellation Orion, with its characteristic belt of three stars, rises in the northern skies by the end of summer and remains for months. I took this shot at Lansdowne Park.

Early October brings another tradition to Ottawa. The Panda Game is a football game held at Lansdowne, pitting Carleton University against the University of Ottawa. Crosstown rivals at a neutral site. It's a sell out event, mostly students, but also alumni and faculty, and I attended. This particular entrance point was very busy.

The game is a raucous one. I walked about, taking two shots from the South Stands.

And then this one from the west end of the North Stands. Ottawa U won. More's the pity, as I am a Carleton Raven. Just what the hell is a Gee Gee anyway?

After the game I had a bite to eat in one of the restaurants. When I came out, there was an absolute wonder in the sky. I've never seen skies like this. They are called asperitas clouds, a recent term for a cloud deck that looks like roiling seas as seen from below. An apt term for something that was strangely beautiful. For me, they looked like something out of a dream- or something Van Gogh would have painted. I took one shot looking up.

And another making use of the South Stands of the stadium for perspective. These skies were the talk of the town in the days after online.