What a lovely weekend this was. The air was clear and bright – not a cloud in the sky. Temperatures in the high 60’sF. It was heavenly. We were heading to Ottawa’s tulip festival. What a city. They have festivals just about every month of the year. Charlie was going to Kingston for a meeting the following day, so Arthur very graciously offered to take me around the city so I could take my pictures. But what he didn’t know was that I needed to be up at 5AM and hopefully be out of the house by 5:30, so as to get the sweet light.
To backtrack a bit, we left around 10AM on Friday and headed East. Around Kingston, we took the road that runs along the St. Lawrence. Since I am crazy over the rocks in the Canadian Shield, I wanted to take our time and stop along the way to take pictures.
At the first place we stopped we had to climb over a low, rusty fence and smash down some undergrowth in order to set up the tripod so as to get a clear shot of the rocks. Well, I found it awkward what with the camera around my neck and the camera bag on my back. I had to ask Charlie for help to get me over the fence. We got the tripod set up and I was having a great time shooting when a police cruiser pulled up and a nice, young man came towards us.
“Maam. Sir. Please come away from there”
“Why?” we asked.
“The hydro pole is on fire” (for those not familiar with the term, that is the pole that carries the electrical wire. Maybe you call it power pole or something.)
“Huh?”
“You’d better make it quick. The transformer could blow”
We looked up and, sure enough, the top of the pole was smoking and flames were licking the sides. I grabbed the camera from the tripod and took a flying leap over the rusty fence and kept running, all the while screaming “Charlie! Hurry up!” I needed no help clearing the fence, this time.
Charlie came with tripod in hand. Since we were parked near the pole, it was a panic to collapse the tripod legs and get it in the trunk. The cops looked worried – we weren’t moving fast enough. Finally, but not until our seat belts were fastened (didn’t want a ticket) did we head out. Whew!
We made several more stops without incident and got to Ottawa just before 5:00PM. Arthur was such a pet and had dinner cooking and drinks at the ready. We put our things away and hung out to talk.
He’d made paella for dinner. It was very good. After dinner I had a shower, washed my hair and put it in rollers. That way, I’d be ready to go the next day. Arthur had a good laugh at my “Sputnik” head. Later, the men watched a movie and I went to bed.
The next day, bright and early at 5, I was up and Arthur was already in the kitchen making coffee. It didn’t take me any time to get ready (I wore old baggy jeans, a tshirt, knee pads and shoes) and he had breakfast waiting for me. What a guy.
We headed out and I was at the park before six and, would you believe, I was not the first one? We arranged to meet by a certain statue at 10AM and Arthur went back to his place.
I had a ball. Down on my belly. Trying for the real closeups. It was fun. Something I noticed – photographers don’t talk to each other. They barely look at each other. Don’t know why. I had a few discussions with various people. Lots of Oriental tourists. They were sweet. Some of them got a giggle out of my knee pads. It must have been the paint splatters on them that made them so interesting.
A couple of people asked me to take their picture with their camera, which I gladly did. The hours flew and I made sure I was at the appointed meeting place. Arthur was there right on time.
We went back to his place so I could download my pictures to the computer. I also had to recharge one of my batteries. We then headed back out.
He drove me all over the place. One of the spots I really liked was the waterfall. Then we went into the woods to find trilliums and found a rare red one.
When I took all the pictures I could, we went to the market. Ottawa’s market is quite an event. All of it is geared towards tourists. There was a stand with all Native items. The best one was a tshirt with the lettering “Oh Canada. Your Home On Native Land” I got the biggest charge out of that. The native Canadians are finally coming into their own. We had one of those great ballpark hot dogs and walked around.
After that, we headed out again and stopped at an outdoor café and had a beer. Then, it was home.
Again, I put my gear away and had a shower and did the hair thing. I came back downstairs, Arthur was making dinner. This time, a stir fry. He had no sooner finished saying “OK Charlie. You can come any time now” when the door opened and it was Charlie. Talk about timing.
Later the men watched another shoot-’em-up movie and I dropped into bed and had a blissful sleep.
In the morning, I packed my things. Charlie took longer to rouse as he had had a late night. Arthur made a great bacon and egg breakfast. He makes terrific coffee too. We ate and drank cup after cup of coffee and finally packed the car. We were gone by about 9:30.
Country folk sure are different from city folk. We stopped in a little hamlet for lunch. The café was busy with locals who all knew each other. We found a table in the corner, sat down and proceeded to eavesdrop on their conversations. Nobody was in a hurry to go anywhere. They all seemed so relaxed. It was fun and gave us something to giggle about on our drive home.
As I recall, we got in around 5.