The Ottawa River

I've mentioned before that my drive to work each day takes me along the Ottawa River. And every time I drive along it, I wish I had time to stop and take some pictures. It never happens; I'm always running late ... late for work, late for dinner, late for a date with Steve.

So today, Emily and I made a special excursion to visit some of the pretty spots along the Ottawa River Parkway.

It seemed that half of Ottawa had the same idea, especially the Canada geese, who made it treacherous to walk anywhere by (a) ignoring bicyclists and pedestrians, and (b) leaving hideously slick, surprisingly large turds everywhere.

Those geese are annoying pests!
If only we could diaper them all.

We did come upon some surprises that you can't see from the parkway.

Wildflowers, with the bees doing their thing.

Queen Anne's lace
(Pretty, but I don't like the smell.)

We even stumbled upon a derelict house, fenced off and being overtaken by the forest. The house is behind all that foliage and is truly falling down. The forest is so dense that it was impossible to get any kind of picture of the structure. Someone has adorned the fence with a bicycle. Click the picture to enlarge it.

Why don't they just demolish the house? Good question.

We visited the Remic Rapids. Remember when I wrote about beauty and public art? Artist John Felice Ceprano has been creating sculptures of carefully stacked stones at the sides of the Remic Rapids since 1986.

Here, he carefully wedges shards of stone to balance rocks.

These are sculptures, not Inukshuks.
They are whimsical and beautiful, and don't survive the winter.
Click the picture to enlarge it.

And one of the things I'd long wanted to photograph was a tiny bridge with arched supports. But, meh. It's more scenic from the parkway. I'll have to find a better vantage point.

So that's been my Saturday. How has yours been?