Odds And Ends

On the same day as my shots from the second half of yesterday's post, I stopped in a park in Hintonburg and photographed this sculpture.

Nearby was one of the many tulip sculptures here in the city. This is the only one I photographed this year, but serves as a nice lead in, as tomorrow I'll start showing you photos from this year's tulips.

On an early April day I was up at Green Island to photograph at the Rideau Falls. I took this shot of the Minto Bridge, which spans the Rideau River at the south end of the island.

A few days later, I was in the Lowertown area. I've often photographed Notre Dame and the National Art Gallery, but never from this angle, taken from the east. The church spires and the glass tower of the Gallery look quite different from here.

Daffodils are a common sight here in the spring, often preceding or accompanying the tulips, and in many cases growing free in the grasses.

Some would call dandelions a weed, but I find them cheerful. I took this shot in May. These were in Little Italy.

For today I finish up with this, also taken in May: a rendition of Grumpy Cat on the wall of a home in the Glebe, with a timely bottle of lysol at hand. As far as Grumpy Cat is concerned, Covid hasn't gotten rid of enough of us yet.

Different Subjects

The photos in today's post date to the last two days of March. I was out along the shores of the Rideau River, with New Edinburgh across the water, and saw Canada geese in and around the water, which was high at the time. They weren't the first geese I saw this year, as I'd seen some two weeks before this. This one, swimming in the river, caught my eye.

The goose can still be seen in this shot. Downstream lies Green Island and the Minto Bridge. I'll show you a different perspective of that bridge tomorrow.

The following day was much brighter. I was coming back from running errands in Westboro and stopped in the Hintonburg area. This is the Ottawa Main Mosque, which stands to the west of the downtown core. I've seen it many times, but have never taken time to photograph it. Like so many other places of worship, the mosque is presently closed because of Covid.

Crossing The Canal

The Flora Bridge is a pedestrian footbridge opened up last year, crossing the Rideau Canal and linking the Glebe neighbourhood with Old Ottawa East. I have shown you the bridge from ice level during the winter, but hadn't gotten onto the bridge itself until early April. Late one night I was in the area and decided to photograph it at night, coming from the Glebe side. It employs long ramps for approaches, and the bridge looks particularly graceful at night.

From this side you can see the ramp on the east side of the bridge.

In mid-May, I returned, wanting to photograph it when the Canal was full. There's a pond between the Canal and my location, which you'll also see in other shots below.

Another look at my third shot, quite different in daytime conditions. This was a brooding day, however.

This view looks south on the Canal.

And this looks north.

A few days later I approached the bridge from the Old Ottawa East side, and found a plaque dedicating it. It is named for Flora MacDonald, an MP and federal cabinet minister in the Clark and Mulroney governments, and by all accounts an outstanding humanitarian. She was a Conservative in the old Red Tory tradition, and lived in this area for many years.

This is the view from the overlook on the Glebe side, with the pond featuring, and spring blossoms in the tree seen here at centre. There's some colour beyond it: a bed of tulips that I photographed and will show you down the line.

Here's the overlook as seen from near the pond. Daffodils were making quite a presence along the slope. The Flora Bridge is a lovely one, in an ideal setting, and I think it actually enhances its surroundings.

Murals In The Capital

Today I have some murals for you, from two different locations in the city, taken on two days in late March. I was in the Byward Market one day and noticed some cubes of wood boards set up, with murals painted on them, on a traffic island. I walked over and photographed several of the murals. Some were more realistic, the last of these more fantasy.

On another day I was out in the Westboro area and noticed a large mural on a single building. I photographed from left to right.

The Might Of The River

I would have loved to see the Chaudiere Falls in the days before all of the infrastructure was here. There's a painting by Krieghoff in the National Gallery that still shows it in that state.

One last shot. I'll have to come back here sometime over the summer to photograph from the main viewing platform. And I'll have to pay a visit to the third of the major waterfalls here, the Hogs Back, as it's been too long since I've been there.

The Fury Of The Waterfalls

Even with the hydro works beyond it, the Chaudiere Falls impresses. My first real exposure to it was in 2017, when for a month or so this was the setting of a multimedia light show, Miwate, marking the country's 150th anniversary with a nightly First Nations presentation. 

It's different in and of itself by day, with the waters roiling and tumbling. I can see its power- to the First Nations people who knew this place for thousands of years, and to the new eyes of Champlain seeing it for the first time.

Another look back downstream. The contrast between the two bridges is striking. In 2019, when we had high waters in the spring, the Chaudiere Bridge in the foreground was closed entirely.

The Cauldron Upon The River

One day in late April I decided to go out to the Chaudiere Falls, where the Ottawa River passes amid a group of islands, and the main channel is funneled through the waterfalls. A hydro dam today rings around the back of the falls. Much of the older buildings around the islands are slowly being removed. This first view looks downstream at the Chaudiere Bridge, with the Portage Bridge beyond it, and Parliament Hill in the distance.

Turning around gives us a view of the falls, a cascade that has a drop of fifteen metres. Chaudiere means cauldron or kettle, given to the place by Champlain, but the falls have a much older history in terms of interaction with First Nations peoples. It has only recently been re-opened to the public, hidden away from clear sight by industry. 

I was at one platform area, but decided to get out to the main platform. That area was locked off, as it is during the winter, since it's closer to the falls and freezes up. I came back to the platform, and passed by a rather cranky Canada goose hissing at me from this grassy spot on the other side of a fence. I didn't see a nest; perhaps it just didn't like the look of me, and so hissing was involved.

I moved on, and the goose strutted around like it owned the place.

I came back for more views, and I'll show you more of that in the next two days.