Colours

A reminder to members of City Daily Photo that the theme for December is Slow.

More fall colours today around Ottawa. 

I was in the Nepean area one day, and fall colours alongside this church caught my eye.

A bus ride later, I was waiting up at the Tunney's Pasture transit station. Trees outside the perimeter drew my attention.

This vibrant tree was outside a bank in the Glebe.

One day I headed out in the direction of Lebreton Flats.

Pindigen Park is here, and this tree certainly drew me.

Autumn colours around nearby buildings had the same effect.

Here we look across at the Canadian Firefighters Memorial, with fall colours in the background. The large statue of a firefighter points towards a wall with names of those firefighters who have died in service.

Across the road is the National Holocaust Monument, with the War Museum in the background.

My path led me on, in the direction of the nearby Portage Bridge.

Here at Richmond Landing, I took more shots of fall colours.

I kept moving along the bridge, which spans the Ottawa River between Ottawa and Gatineau. The river passes through a series of islands here, including Victoria Island, home to the ruins of an old carbide mill. We'll pick up here tomorrow.

On An Excursion Or Two

Early this month, I had to go out to Westboro. I took this shot of fall colours in a parking lot in the neighbourhood. I took the same shot in a post early in this series.

A bus ride later, I was up in the Tunney's Pasture area, a government complex lying north of the Hintonburg and Mechanicsville neighbourhoods. This red tree caught my eye. 

The following day I was on my way to the War Museum for a visit. This view is in Lebreton Flats on the way.

A short walk away I took this shot. The cliff we see here is part of the same ridge that Parliament Hill is on.

The Ottawa River runs through a number of channels in this area, and this particular one is a controlled one, with waters at a low level at present.

Beyond this channel, these colours really popped out.

This view is a short way beyond, on my way to the Canadian Firefighters Memorial.

The Memorial is a national memorial, with a wall of names of firefighters who have fallen in the line of duty or died of workplace related illnesses inscribed, from across the country. Each year new names are added to the wall, and a national service is held in September. A large statue of a firefighter stands across from the wall. Trees planted around the Memorial were at their height.

Neighbouring the Memorial is Pindigen Park, developed by the National Capital Commission in collaboration with local First Nations tribes. I've passed by this spot many times, but have not photographed it before. I will have to remedy that, likely in the spring, as there are some neat touches to be found here.

And then it was to the waiting intersection. Beyond were the grounds of the Canadian War Museum, with bright red colours. I'll start showing you that series in a few days.

Melting Snow And Rock Faces

Back on St. Patrick's Day, I went down to the Portage Bridge to photograph the river. On my way I paused to photograph this work site on Lebreton Flats. This is the site of the future main branch of the Ottawa Public Library, a joint project with Library and Archives Canada, which will also have facilities in the new building. The present main branch of the library is a few blocks east of here in the downtown core, and it's a monstrosity from the 70s. I may occasionally document the progress at this site.

This is what the finished product is going to look like.

Close by I photographed this channel of the Ottawa River. There was actually a kayaker in this white water training area. Off in the distance are buildings on the Gatineau shore of the main body of the river.

Coming back, my eyes were drawn to ice on the rock wall here. This is actually part of the larger ridge that Parliament Hill is part of, a limestone ridge that looms high over the Ottawa River, with saddles of lower areas between parts of the ridge- where I was in the first shot is one of those saddles. It's lower here than it is at Parliament Hill, but where I was standing wasn't down at the river's edge either. South of here, the ridge gradually disappears beneath the earth around Dow's Lake, where it is largely hidden by soil and buildings. Ice was still clinging to the rock face, and the sound of meltwater could be heard.

Here's where the sound of melting water was coming from, with water soaking the cliff from above. Drops of water can be seen near the top.

Nearby here, I photographed this pumping station that dates back to the 19th century and remains active. That channel of the Ottawa River in the shot further up? It comes through here.

And then flows under a bridge back into what feels like a natural gorge. I took two more shots of the place.

Close to this spot is the national Firefighters Memorial. There was less snow here than the last time I was here, but this area gets a lot of southern and western exposure.

A Walk On A Late Winter Afternoon

For the last three days I've been showing you scenes in Sandy Hill. Today I bring that to a close. Finished with the bridge I showed yesterday, I took this shot looking north in Strathcona Park. In the distance you can see people skating on some of the ice that had formed on top of the snow as part of a freeze up days earlier. A careful eye might find a squirrel closer to me.

A historical plaque is in this section of the park.

I headed out. Along the way, I noticed this planter box outside a restaurant. Very Canadian, with hockey sticks being used as a frame for plants to climb on.

This also caught my eye. I can't recall the last time I've seen a New Mexico plate. Most American visitors in this area tend to have plates from the Northeast states.

A house caught my eye, including the historical plaque on one of its walls.

There is a fire house situated in the midst of the campus at the University of Ottawa, which forms the western side of the Sandy Hill neighbourhood.

Tabaret Hall is one of the older buildings on the campus.

Further west, a view of the Rideau Canal. Open water can be seen on the ice below in this view from the Laurier Avenue Bridge. 

And on the west side of the Canal, this view of the Cartier Square Drill Hall, which stands alongside City Hall.

A memorial to Ottawa fire fighters stands here on the grounds of City Hall.

A view of the contemporary wing of City Hall. The skate rink outside was still active.

And I finish with this view. In 2017 for the 150th anniversary of Canada, a torch was erected here at City Hall. The torch was lit as I walked past.