Tag Archives: Ottawa
The Big Give
I’m not really a garage sale sort of person. That’s not to say I don’t appreciate a bargain, but driving from place to place looking for one doesn’t appeal to me. It seems too much like work. I know there are people for whom garage sales are a major hobby. They are up at the […]
The Church
“Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” That line is a paraphrase of a statement popularized by philosopher George Santayana. It was running through my mind a lot this week, with the news that Ottawa’s Northwestern United Church building is being sold to the mosque next door. I assume the reason […]
Tulipfest 2016 III
I took about 100 pictures of tulips Sunday night, and reaction has been positive to the ones I posted here, so I am going to the well one last time. I’m not a flower person, but you might be. And some of these look more like a Van Gogh painting than a photograph. Enjoy the […]
Tulipfest 2016 II
As I mentioned yesterday, going to see the tulips at sundown made them look somehow different than last year’s midday visit. I’m not a person known for my colour sense (there’s a medical reason for that) so I’m not sure if describing what I saw as being mostly pastels makes much sense. To me many […]
Tulipfest 2016
Ottawa’s annual Tulip Festival wrapped up Monday. Most years I ignore the event, not being all that enamoured of watching flowers grow (though admittedly it is more interesting than watching paint dry). However, being a dutiful husband, when my wife said “let’s go see the tulips,” I went to see the tulips. And enjoyed myself […]
Mer Bleue Once Again
We were there Christmas Eve when it was unseasonably warm – two months later than our usual last visit for the year. Yesterday was Easter, and it was also unseasonably warm, so we headed back to Mer Bleue. We avoided the wooded trails, which were certain to be all mud, and stuck to the boardwalk. […]
Am I A Criminal?
Canada does not, to the best of my knowledge, have a statute of limitations on criminal acts. There is no sunset clause for minor offences, as is found in some American jurisdictions. I mention this because I am about to confess to a crime. My hope is that the authorities will decide it isn’t worth […]
Bus Etiquette
I pushed my way through the group of four young adults blocking the bus’s exit. Clustered in front of the door you would think they were planning on getting off when I was, but that was not the case. I did a quick count as I exited. There were at least six empty seats in […]
The Aftermath
Two days after Ottawa was hit with a major 50 cm snowstorm the bus system still doesn’t appear to be back to normal. Thursday afternoon buses were traveling through the downtown core were 45 minutes behind schedule. Supposedly that was due to high traffic volumes, which struck me as a strange excuse given that most […]
White Chaos
I occasionally poke fun at my American friends whose communities seem to be unable to handle a severe winter storm. Canadians, I tell them, aren’t afraid of a little snow. We know how to deal with the stuff. My contempt has its roots in a trip to New York City in 2001, where we experienced […]
random thoughts from lorne 
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