1. The Red Witch “Did you try to check in at the kiosk?” she asked when Trudy and her husband stepped up to the counter. She was wearing a read coat with a silky, poofy scarf tied around her neck. She looked straight at the fair and industrious Trudy. No smile. A grim, blank stare […]
Yearly Archives: 2012
You Are With Me
Wed, 22 Feb 2012, 09:34 PM (-06:00)
We return now to an event from our trip to Ottawa. I’ve just about blogged myself out on that trip, but I left this one out. So here it is, out of sequence and a few weeks late. We stood behind him in line when we were waiting to rent ice skates. He was returning […]
The Last Morning
Mon, 20 Feb 2012, 08:50 PM (-06:00)
1. Leaving for the Airport We suggested that it made sense for us to take a taxi to the airport in the morning. Our flight was to leave at 6:00am, and (doing the math) that meant leaving for the airport at 3:30am. Why get up and drive us, when we can just call a taxi? They […]
Beaver Tails
Mon, 20 Feb 2012, 05:41 PM (-06:00)
Happy to be off the ice with our boots attached firmly to the ground, we walked up the stairs to Confederation Park. We wanted to see the big ice sculptures now that they were finished. There was a galloping horse. There was a modernistic swirl that looped out at us with a reclining nude sitting […]
Skating Along Rideau Canal
Mon, 20 Feb 2012, 08:55 AM (-06:00)
We had the whole day to kill. Ok, we got our start around noon, and the sun goes down early in Ottawa in winter. So we didn’t really have the whole day, more like several hours. So… we had several hours to kill. We planned to spend the time skating on the Rideau Canal, on the […]
Where in the World?
Mon, 20 Feb 2012, 08:26 AM (-06:00)
The OC Transpo bus was full from front to back. All the seats were taken, and people were standing in the aisle. When the bus pulled up to a stop, a short, quiet woman stood up. But it took her so long to weave her way thru the crowd of people that when she got […]
Artists on the Bus
Sun, 19 Feb 2012, 11:37 PM (-06:00)
He walked down the aisle from the front of the OC Transpo bus. He had long, curly grey hair that fell around his shoulders. He had two scarves—a black and yellow one hanging down his front and a white one tied tightly around his neck. When he got to the middle of the bus, he stopped. […]
Walking Along Rideau Canal
Sun, 19 Feb 2012, 11:08 PM (-06:00)
From the bed races, we decided to walk on the canal. Skaters zoomed by, hands clasped behind their backs. Or they came by pulling toboggans loaded with boots and backpacks and sleepy kids. A few skated by slowly and tentatively, but the learners were few and the experts were many. Walkers such as us were […]
Bed Races
Sun, 19 Feb 2012, 10:21 PM (-06:00)
When we last spoke, I was talking about a trip we took to Ottawa. It’s been a while now since we returned, but my story is only slowly coming out. 1. Getting Up Late On the morning of the third day, my father was waiting for us when we finally rolled out of bed. The […]
We’ll Be Home Soon
Sun, 12 Feb 2012, 08:15 PM (-06:00)
Rideau Center is just down the street from Chateau Laurier. There, we could catch the #7 or the #12 back to the condo. Although it was late on a Friday night, the steets and sidewalks of downtown Ottawa were still busy. There was a crowd at the OC Transpo bus stop when we got there. […]