High and Dry

Looking across to Gatineau, Quebec

We're feeling lucky to be dry. Out of town friends who have watched coverage of the floods in Gatineau and Ottawa, ask us if our basement is dry. Thankfully it is. Actually we have spent the past few weeks working on our basement rec room. Can you still call it a rec room? Anyhow it's the room the grandchildren play in, when they come, the room we retreat to, on a hot summer day. We've been tearing out the old wood panelling and white ceiling tiles, putting in insulation and drywall. Nothing extravagant but an upgrade for us.

When I see and hear these people who have been flooded and lost everything, I cannot imagine how they must feel. This project of ours has taken so much time, energy and money and it's only a small room. How will they clean up their homes and make them liveable again?

Today I went down to the river where I spent so many childhood days. Mom and Dad are still in their home, which is one block from the Ottawa River. Luckily, their basement is also dry. In the sixties, the Ottawa River Parkway was built. That raised road, between the river and my parents' block, helps to keep the water from my parent's block. Here are some scenes from the walking/cycling path along the river.

The signs here, show the location of the walking/cycling path.

The river is now receding, leaving a lot of debris behind.

Ottawa Flypast

Take time to smell the roses...or watch the flypast

There are many perks to living in the nations' capital. Today's flypast was one of them. Canada's Snowbirds, along with France's aerobatic demonstration team, La Patrouille de France, flew together, in formation. It was one of the many events scheduled throughout this year, to marks Canada's sesquicentennial.There were nine Snowbird Tutor planes, eight French Alpha jets along with two photo chase planes. The event was delayed because of yesterday's rain. A crowd gathered at Parliament Hill. We didn't make it downtown but as often happens with Parliament Hill flypasts, the planes were visible in our neighbourhood as we are fairly close to the Ottawa River. The planes fly along the river, on their way to The Hill.

In the midst of a busy morning, with many indoor and outdoor jobs vying for my attention, it was fun to take a break and stand in the middle of Champlain Park with my ninety-two year old father and watch the planes fly overhead.