Tulips + Canal + Movie + Beer = Good Day

Today promised to be an interesting day. A bit of time was spent getting off some information to my accountant (too bad she isn't single - she is really quite attractive and smart!). Then there was the headache caused by the construction hammers and saws - ripping balconies off the back of the building, cutting rebar, etc. So the start to the day was dodgy.

But it got better around 5:30 pm. I had stuck earplugs in and tried to sleep off the headache and it mostly worked. About 6:30 pm, I got on the bus (first time since 1986 on an Ottawa OC Transpo Bus!) and successfully rode the 101 to Dow's Lake.

I proceeded to spend the next two hours wandering the length of Commissioner's Park and shooting lots of snaps with my (admittedly crappy camera) cell-phone. I saw many lovely tulips in lovely arrangements - dark midnight purple, mid purple, purple with white fringes, pink, pink with white fringes, white with pink splashes, white, yellow, yellow with red highlights, red, red with orange highlights, red closer to orange, and so on. There were a few other non-tulip beds and a variety of interesting trees and other greenery. Tomorrow I'll try to extract the photos from my camera and post a link to an library of them, likely on Google's Photo Site.

I noticed a lot of families, kids, mothers, fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers. There were bikers and walkers and even a those with canes or wheelchairs. The weather was lovely - 16 to 18 Celcius. A cloudy sky in the later day, but beautiful nonetheless. The water of the canal was lovely and I saw ducks and other birds as well and a lovely tortoise shell cat in one of the flower beds (assuming the picture came out).

I saw the state 'man with two hats' and the plaques talking about the Canadian Liberation of the Scheldt Estuary. If you haven't read much about this, Mark Zuehlke has a book or two you should read - the battle for the Scheldt was not an easy one and many brave boys died to liberate the Netherlands and the low countries. I understand there is a duplicate statue somewhere in Appeldorn, Netherlands and I hope to visit it one day.

I also saw the simple but effective plaque, set off in a nicely separated ring surrounded by nice beds of greenery, commemorating the people who died, many of them Canadians, on Air India Flight 182 that was bombed in Irish airspace in 1985 by Sikh extremists. My thoughts went out yet again to the families of the innocent victims and our Government's failure to secure convictions in this matter once again made me embarrassed.

I had a Menonite organic sausage and a bun, some fresh cut fries, and an ice cream. The sausage was good, but I think the spicy Italian sausages from Preston street nearby are slightly better, although I can't guarantee they are entirely organic (as it is meant nowadays). Still, eating overlooking the canal and Dow's lake was lovely.

On the way back from my 3 mile (est) round trip, I read a bit about Dow's lake and the Rideau Canal. I'd studied it before in studying the conflicts in early Canada and in Engineering History at Queen's University. Colonel John By and the Royal Engineers did quite a job in constructing the Rideau Canal system. I did discover something new - when a fire raged through the town and threatened the canal, they cut one of the earthen berms and drained out some of the water from the canal and Dow's lake to flood the area around Preston street to create a barrier agains the fire, saving the canal work and probably parts of the city.

The whole wandering pilgrimage was worthwhile, pleasant, and breathtaking. I did botch one picture that would have been printed in our papers and made me a minor celebrity for 15 minutes - I almost had a picture of a fenced flower bed, with a no walking on the flower bed sign, and 18" away, a mother and grandmother were putting their kids into the midst of the flowers to get a photo. That's the sort of thing that explains the current state of our world.

As I was ambling back, watching ducks land on the water, I texted a friend about going for beer on Preston. He pointed out he and another friend (Ricki D and Dan R for those who know them) were waiting for "Monsters vs. Aliens" to start at the AMC.

Seeing nothing odd about two grown, middle-aged men going to see an animated cartoon, I immediately made plans to join them (to add yet another grown, middle-aged man to the group). This, however, gave me just under 30 minutes to get from half way down the Canal from Dow's Lake to my apartment and thence to Kanata. About 500m on foot, several lights, then 9 city blocks by bus, then about 10-15 km by car were required.

Thus ensued my version of the modern urban triathlon: Fast walking, busing, and driving. I arrived after the first couple of minutes of the film, but basically caught the vast majority of it. It was a good film - good for kids and grown ups. Funny, heartwarming, and with enough of the sorts of comments that would sail by the kids (and homages that would do the same) to keep adult interest.

From there, we ended up at O'Connor's. Rick and Dan feigned outrage at not being carded, I joked about us needing a Senior's Card. This got Dark looks. But beer was had, women were watched, a band was heard (and little else after...), and fun was had. I'm sure for some of the younger patrons, it was the first time they'd heard the Doors or CCR. And apparently the spiked hair/fake tan guido look is still around. The more things change, the more they don't....

So, a good night overall. Beautiful flowers and a lovely walk by the water, some good friends, a beer, a laugh or ten at the movie, and some cute young ladies to not-approach-due-to-lack-of-courage. That's an excellent evening and day in my opinion!