Sometimes, it takes a lot of perseverance to solve a Where In Ottawa challenge. My friend, Becca, has that. I admit that the clues for the photo contest were cryptic, and that was no accident. I had to dig deep to come up with hints that would lead you to the Holy Ghost Chapel, along the Rideau Canal, and I actually ran out of ideas. I had to give a street name. Becca, ever-determined, went on Google Street View and took a virtual stroll down a road to find this building.
Congratulations, my friend! Here are the clues, explained:
No class—the bell in the photo looked more like it belonged in an old school, but it wasn't a school. It's an old church.
No father, nor son—but there is a holy ghost in the name.
Comunidade—this is the Portuguese word for community, and this church is the home of the Portuguese Community Centre.
Main and... Main and...—did you hear an echo? That's because the Holy Ghost Chapel is located at Main Street and Echo Drive.
I think that when I search for next month's Where In Ottawa location, I'm going to make sure I have plenty of clues prepared before I settle on it. And not mention the street.
This is sort of a tradition for my friend, Becca, and me: Karaoke night, before Christmas, singing the only song of the season that I truly like. Happy Christmas, your arse!
The last time I saw my friend, Becca, was last Sunday. I went to her place to return some tools she had lent DW and me to finish the tile work in our kitchen. They were cleaned and in a bin, and I had thrown in a six-pack of IPA as a thank you for her help with our renovations. I then drove home, making a detour to take some photos for the upcoming Where In Ottawa, and I decided to stop at Dow's Lake, on Queen Elizabeth Drive, across from the pavilion, which I decided to use for this month's photo challenge. Congratulations, Becca! It's a mere coincidence that Becca solved the challenge. She had no idea where I was going when I left her and we hadn't spoken to each other since she left her guess in the Comments section of the blog post.
Here are the clues, explained:
Rich view—if you're in one of the halls in the pavilion, the ones in the challenge photo, you look across the lake and toward the multi-million-dollar homes of the Glebe Annex. It's funny that one of the wealthiest neighbourhoods in the city was, until the 1930s a rail and lumber yard.
Swamped? D'ow! That's just great!—before the man-made lake was constructed, Dow's Lake was known as Dow's Great Swamp. It was named after an American, Abram Dow, who settled in the area in the early 19th century. A dam was constructed on the north end of the swamp, not far from the pavilion, to allow flooding for the Rideau Canal.
A bridge ran through it—or a causeway. It's hard to tell. But according to geoOttawa, a 1928 aerial photo shows a roadway that starts where Preston Street and Prince of Wales Drive now meet, and runs east, across the northern portion of the lake, where it splits at present-day Lakeside Avenue and Queen Elizabeth Drive.
I want to give a big thank you to Anita Ruivo and Dwayne Brown, of loveOttawa, for providing a t-shirt for the winner. It's a snazzy shirt that will look great when Becca celebrates Canada's 150th birthday, next year. Just one more reason to love Where In Ottawa!
Anita and Dwayne are the team behind my profile photo, which I use on this blog, on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Thanks again for your great work! The next photo challenge is January 2, 2017.
I have the best friends. When DW and I started our kitchen and family room renovations, we thought we would save some money by doing the demolition stage ourselves. It was hard work, but when we saw the shell that had once been a busy kitchen, we felt pride in the sense of accomplishment. But because I'm not much of a handyman, I knew that I wanted to leave the construction in the hands of professionals. We paid for skilled labourers to install our hardwood floor, build and place our cabinets and island, do the electrical work and plumbing, and do the counter. Because I'm not entirely useless, I painted the walls, installed a ceiling lamp over the fireplace, and replaced our old baseboards. There was only one problem with me doing the baseboards: I lacked the tools to cut the boards and to properly nail them to the wall. Enter my friends. When I needed an electric miter saw, I posted an appeal on Facebook and Twitter. Within minutes, I had several offers. I ultimately accepted help from my friend, Becca, and her saw reduced our time by hours. For a nail gun, my friend, Shannon, and her husband lent us a brad gun, which, again, cut down the work time by about two ours. Thank you so much. One of the last major tasks of our renovation is the installation of the backsplash tiles in the kitchen. DW and I have been searching for the right tiles since we first started planning our reno, without much luck. Either she would love a pattern and I would hate it, or vice versa. Or, we would find a tile that we liked, only to get a sample of it home and discover that it didn't quite suit what we had in the kitchen already, or we would find we didn't like it at home as much as we liked it in the store. Time was running out because we had a tile guy who was coming to install them and we also had another guy who was coming to install our range hood, which couldn't be done until after the tiles were in place. My friend, Becca, when she learned that we weren't doing the tile ourselves, and then heard how much we were paying someone to do the work, talked us into doing it ourselves. She had done the tiles in her own kitchen, said she had most of the necessary tools, and was happy to help us put them on the wall. Yesterday was the day. I have the most amazing friends. Despite the snowy weather, Becca came and helped every step of the way: from the edging, to mixing the mortar and applying it to the wall, to working with DW to place the brick-shaped pieces into place. All I had to do was cut the tiles to their specifications. When I wasn't cutting the tiles, I was watching, in awe, as these two women worked. Mostly, I watched their butts. But that's just me.
The job took longer than we thought, and the day went like the wind. We didn't finish the whole job, but we at least finished the wall that will have the range hood attached to it. Thanks, Becca! It looks great. There's nothing like doing the work yourself, except when you have helping hands.
This is not a photo project. They line my office building, blocking the view from the west-end, front parking lot from the path that I walk, from the northern entrance of the office to the northern parking lot, which is on the far end, away from the main accessway. The trees, evergreens, are, of themselves, nothing special, except that in the bleak months of winter, they are one of the few signs of life. And, at different times of day, the light catches them and plays with them in different ways. I just like the way they look, and so, as I arrive at work, or as I make my way home, if the light strikes my eyes against these giant pines* in such a way that I look twice, I have captured them with my Android device. Sometimes, although rarely, I use a D-SLR.
But it's not a project. And I'm not the only one who has found them lovely to look at. My dear friend, Rebecca, liked one of the photos that I took and decided to show her own artistic take on these trees. It was a late-afternoon shot: according to the photo's metadata, it was January 27, 2015, at precisely 4:35 PM. The sun was low in the sky, had just fallen below the Gatineau Hills, across Highway 5. A mix of sky and cloud swept the background and added to the coolness of the day. Temperatures were in the minus twenties.
I shot the image, and when I climbed into my car, climbed out of the cold wind, I tweaked the photo and posted it on Twitter. Maybe, on Facebook, too. I started the car and got rolling. I think I may have headed to the Rideau Falls, to take some shots for the next Wordless Wednesday. Becca responded to the tweet. She said she liked the photo. She said she should paint it. My friend is a woman of many talents. She can sing. She can act. She can make me laugh until it hurts. And, she can paint. I had specifically said, for those who were attending my birthday party at the Black Sheep Inn, that gifts were not welcome: it was my friends' company that I wanted, as we watched Midge Ure strum his Fender and belt out my favourite songs. Becca disregarded my plea. As she sat next to me, she placed a gift bag in front of me. I protested, but she said it was something that she wanted to do. I picked up the bag and moved to place it alongside my camera bag. I was thankful, but my intention was to open it later, perhaps when I returned home. But she wanted me to open it right then and there. We say that life sometimes imitates art. Becca's gift shows that art can imitate life, and do it beautifully.
I love it. * I'm guessing they're pine trees, but I don't know much about them. I'm a writer, not a botanist.
I have amazing, talented friends. I only heard about the 48 Hour Film Project a couple of weeks before it was scheduled to take place. A couple of friends who were associated with the project had tweeted about it: I paid only brief attention to it, thinking it was a cool idea. I've always been interested in film, had always played with the thought of how I'd like to appear in a film, maybe help write a script—I've been told I'm good with dialog. My littlest one has taken drama school and is currently in a drama summer camp: she has even auditioned for a role in a feature film. Maybe, I'll live vicariously through her. On the weekend of the 48 Hour Film Project, one of my friends, Rebecca Fleming, had tweeted and posted on Facebook that she would be participating in the challenge, playing a part in a film. Rebecca is a funny, amazing person who can engage you in the utterly silliest of conversations or the most intelligent, thought-provoking discussions. And she loves beer, which makes me love her all the more and has me truly thankful for our friendship. When the end products from the film project were displayed on screen last weekend, at the Mayfair Theatre, I didn't hesitate to go. I wanted to support Becca and see what this festival was all about. Maybe, I might be motivated to want to participate next year. The challenge for the filmmakers is to put together a short film, of about four to seven minutes in length, in a 48-hour period. Writing, casting, shooting, editing, and post-production are all done in this short time frame. In all, six short films were presented at the Mayfair. Some were good, some were brilliant, some dragged on, and some just didn't make sense. But I had to hand it to the people who stepped up and put themselves out there. My favourite film, by far, was the Team OutAway production, Arranging Flowers. I'm not saying that because it is the film that starred my friend. Never mind the fact that Becca displayed great timing, priceless facial expressions, and a convincing portrayal of someone who, in her attempt to overcome a problem at the job that she clearly doesn't like, gets pulled into a situation in which she has no control, only to redeem herself. The film had a good story and was shot with clarity and quality. It moved at a great pace and the audience was fully engaged. Becca was brilliant. No wonder she won the award for Best Actress of the event. It was well-deserved. Here is the short film, Arranging Flowers. If ever I needed some prodding for getting involved in film, the 48 Hour Film Project is it.
