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ciroccojThe Skateway is now closed. How sad. I'm glad we got to go one last time before my surgery - oh, and Chris looked it up and apparently that night we skated 3.2K, from our car to the Beavertails stand and back. Daniel actually skated more than that, because after declaring himself to be too wiped to go back as we got closer to the Beavertails stand, he sat, ate some Beavertails, and then got up and started to careen around the eating area while the rest of us rested. And then he made it all the way back to the car on his own.
Justin mostly just stayed in the sled (he can't actually skate yet), but near the end he declared that he wanted to skate the rest of the way. OK, I said, knowing he'd get tired of falling down and want to get back in the sled after two minutes. He got up, held my hand, and started balancing rather precariously and trying to walk on the ice. Then he started to tell me a story. And about ten minutes later, we were back to the car and Justin had not fallen down even once. He was pretty proud of himself, too :) We all cheered and made a big deal out of it.
BTW, I think Enya sings - well, you know, it's Enya, so she's not singing, she's sort of going wooAAh-wooAAAaaAA, but you get the drift - in the Virtual Tour of the Rideau Skateway. Check it out.
http://www.canadascapital.gc.ca/skateway/conditions/index_e.asp#
Later Edit: And now I'm not sure. I think it's just someone trying to sound like Enya.
***
You know what's weird? At one point in the last few weeks I've discovered something: I love my hometown. Maybe it's a little silly to come to that stunning realization after having spent 8 years desperately trying to get back to Ottawa, and deciding that I wanted to raise my kids here, and after extolling its virtues all the time to anyone who'll listen. But I've finally realized that it's not just because I grew up here. I actually love Ottawa for itself.
I always thought that, nice as it was, you just couldn't say with pride "I love my hometown of Ottawa" because it wasn't (a) a small, intimate hometown like North Beaver, Saskatchewan, population 250 rugged souls who are all related to you, or (b) one of those cities with world-wide appeal. You know, there's songs and movies and poems about other cities. New York, New York. If You're Going To San Francisco. Streets of London. I Love Paris in the Springtime. Chicago. That kind of thing.
But... Ottawa? Who would possibly want to sing the praises of a city that's not known for its vibrant art scene, or its edginess, or its economic prowess, or its historic beauty, cultural significance, world-famous universities, cutting edge architecture, or... anything? Other than the fact that the federal government of Canada sits here? And, really. Who cares about that, other than the federal politicians themselves?
But I love it. It's big enough to be a big city where big names come to perform, without giving me the claustrophobic sense that I'm surrounded by MILLIONS OF PEOPLE and I CAN'T GET OUT that I feel in Toronto. Crime is under control, relatively speaking. It's a clean, fairly well-organized city.
And it's incredibly colourful in its own way. Very much bilingual - everybody knows at least some words in English and French, and a sizable proportion of the city is fully comfortable in both. 20% of our population is made up of immigrants of all races and creeds. You walk down any street or mall and hear not just French and English, but Arabic, Korean, Chinese, Spanish, and a number of others.
And it really seems like people try to get along with each other and celebrate their differences. There are racial incidents and it's not perfect, but there's also a lot of good will.
For culture we've got a bunch of major museums, the National Arts Centre, Parliament Hill, and a bunch of trendy little bars and nightspots near the Market and on Bank Street. For scenery and outdoor fun we've got small beaches along the river and the Gatineau Hills for hiking in the summer. In the fall the Gatineaus do a sort of aesthetic explosion of fall colours that's absolutely stunning. And in the winter we've got the Skateway and Winterlude.
And Chris informed me earlier this week that some world survey just put it in the top 20 cities in the world to live in, in terms of quality of life.
Not too shabby. I'm starting to understand why Charles de Lint sets many of his books here :)
***
On a totally unrelated note, this is cute:
You are the tree-loving faerie. The Earth Faerie.
Nature is your friend, all the little animals
are cute and cuddly, even those that bite. You
are a strong friend, people have a tendancy to
go to you when they are feeling sad. You have a
motherly instinct and always want to kiss away
the tears.
What's your inner Faerie?
brought to you by Quizilla
Justin mostly just stayed in the sled (he can't actually skate yet), but near the end he declared that he wanted to skate the rest of the way. OK, I said, knowing he'd get tired of falling down and want to get back in the sled after two minutes. He got up, held my hand, and started balancing rather precariously and trying to walk on the ice. Then he started to tell me a story. And about ten minutes later, we were back to the car and Justin had not fallen down even once. He was pretty proud of himself, too :) We all cheered and made a big deal out of it.
BTW, I think Enya sings - well, you know, it's Enya, so she's not singing, she's sort of going wooAAh-wooAAAaaAA, but you get the drift - in the Virtual Tour of the Rideau Skateway. Check it out.
http://www.canadascapital.gc.ca/skateway/conditions/index_e.asp#
Later Edit: And now I'm not sure. I think it's just someone trying to sound like Enya.
You know what's weird? At one point in the last few weeks I've discovered something: I love my hometown. Maybe it's a little silly to come to that stunning realization after having spent 8 years desperately trying to get back to Ottawa, and deciding that I wanted to raise my kids here, and after extolling its virtues all the time to anyone who'll listen. But I've finally realized that it's not just because I grew up here. I actually love Ottawa for itself.
I always thought that, nice as it was, you just couldn't say with pride "I love my hometown of Ottawa" because it wasn't (a) a small, intimate hometown like North Beaver, Saskatchewan, population 250 rugged souls who are all related to you, or (b) one of those cities with world-wide appeal. You know, there's songs and movies and poems about other cities. New York, New York. If You're Going To San Francisco. Streets of London. I Love Paris in the Springtime. Chicago. That kind of thing.
But... Ottawa? Who would possibly want to sing the praises of a city that's not known for its vibrant art scene, or its edginess, or its economic prowess, or its historic beauty, cultural significance, world-famous universities, cutting edge architecture, or... anything? Other than the fact that the federal government of Canada sits here? And, really. Who cares about that, other than the federal politicians themselves?
But I love it. It's big enough to be a big city where big names come to perform, without giving me the claustrophobic sense that I'm surrounded by MILLIONS OF PEOPLE and I CAN'T GET OUT that I feel in Toronto. Crime is under control, relatively speaking. It's a clean, fairly well-organized city.
And it's incredibly colourful in its own way. Very much bilingual - everybody knows at least some words in English and French, and a sizable proportion of the city is fully comfortable in both. 20% of our population is made up of immigrants of all races and creeds. You walk down any street or mall and hear not just French and English, but Arabic, Korean, Chinese, Spanish, and a number of others.
And it really seems like people try to get along with each other and celebrate their differences. There are racial incidents and it's not perfect, but there's also a lot of good will.
For culture we've got a bunch of major museums, the National Arts Centre, Parliament Hill, and a bunch of trendy little bars and nightspots near the Market and on Bank Street. For scenery and outdoor fun we've got small beaches along the river and the Gatineau Hills for hiking in the summer. In the fall the Gatineaus do a sort of aesthetic explosion of fall colours that's absolutely stunning. And in the winter we've got the Skateway and Winterlude.
And Chris informed me earlier this week that some world survey just put it in the top 20 cities in the world to live in, in terms of quality of life.
Not too shabby. I'm starting to understand why Charles de Lint sets many of his books here :)
On a totally unrelated note, this is cute:
You are the tree-loving faerie. The Earth Faerie.
Nature is your friend, all the little animals
are cute and cuddly, even those that bite. You
are a strong friend, people have a tendancy to
go to you when they are feeling sad. You have a
motherly instinct and always want to kiss away
the tears.
What's your inner Faerie?
brought to you by Quizilla
