Rideau canal | dymoonblog

A fine WordPress.com site

Posts tagged ‘Rideau canal’

The gift of sharing

Downtown is a busy place. At this time of year the boaters arrive to tour the capital. From my vantage point on the bridge I’m spending a few lazy moments watching the world drift by. Behind me is a huge shopping mecca for tourists and locals alike. And across the street from the shopping center is a quaint marketplace where the trendy come to shop and sit in outdoor cafes. Tourists enjoy the Designer shops, and the Farmers Market all blended in one big “Happening” environment.

Ottawa is laid out like a patchwork quilt, with different sections of the city offering it’s own style and colour. Chinatown, Little Italy, Westboro, The Glebe, each has it’s very own flavour to tempt and delight the visitors eager for an authentic adventure.

Friendships are like our own version of a quilt. I’ve learned to appreciate each and every friend in my life for the gifts they bring to my “world”. In a recent conversation, a friend I’ve not seen in some time, was asking me about another friend who I probably have not seen in a couple of years. I was talking about the special qualities and the love I have for the person when my friend interrupted and exclaimed,”but you aren’t currently in touch! And that was years ago?”

Hmmm I found that an interesting reaction, if I love someone today, I will love them tomorrow, love is an opening of one’s heart to another, and involves genuine caring. If that person, leaves or moves along a different path, or for whatever reason, there is a parting. Love does not cease and become past tense. Friendships that are genuine and true, last a life time. Sharing love, caring, & affection is not a commodity, it is a gift and should always be freely given. Not for what you want in return, but because you truly care, unconditionally.

Good Morning Everyone – May your have a sunshine day. Be Happy. I love & appreciate you all.

Namaste – Oyashikiri

nb* the bridge is behind the Rideau Centre the waterway is the Rideau Canal, Ottawa, Ontario,Canada

Flowers taken at the Experimental Farm, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

text and photographs – Q

Category:

Uncategorized

Tagged with:

Buongiorno -Good day everyone!

Italy’s Amalfi coastal area, would I have loved to have been with the photographer who took this picture at that given moment. Italy for me is a far off country that I know very little of. A client went there on a biking tour came back with wonderful stories of the charm and many delights she encountered while touring there. At the time her pictures and recounting of the many little adventures they had enjoyed caught my fancy and I thought of ways my husband and I could get over there to hike or walk the hills and valleys. Hmmm nice dream. With time that thought and desire faded, and in its place some other “idea” took my fancy.

Venice, Italy, how weathered and worn these steps are how many people have taken these steps to go about their daily lives, if you live in this area, do you still hear the water lapping up on the steps, are has it just become white noise. For me, my imagination has me wondering what it must be like to walk down the stairs, sunshine and clear skies beckoning, to get on a water vehicle of sorts then glide off around the corner of the wall to explore and take in a world that will be brand new to me. LOL that is of course on a larger scale, the reality is I do this everyday, when I wake the world around me has kept on evolving, so each and every day, without fail, is a brand new day. Each and every day without fail, I can walk outside, get in my car, or walk, bike, to discover brand new delights, make new friends, the possibilities are endless.

I live minutes from Canada’s historical parliament buildings, where tourists come for world wide to enjoy every year. Here we have the changing of the guards daily during the summer where the sound of the pipes and the marching soldiers never fail to draw a crowd. Then there is the famous Byward market where people from all walks of life gather to be part of “the scene”.. I can walk/skate the Rideau Canal, the bike trail along the Rideau River is within minutes of leaving my home, this is where you’ll find the Queens swans in the summer months. If I go in another direction I’m on the banks of the Ottawa River and a parkway that leads to more parks and to the stables of the RCMP horses (Royal Canadian Mounted Police). I happen to live in a major city, but I know that everyone has their own wonderlands to discover right close to home. In the city our idea of a “Sunday drive” is to drive out to the country, to capture the tranquility of a lake or parts of the rivers that are not surrounded by built up urban living.

Today my thoughts drifted to Italy, it was nice to journey through the various moments that were provided by the artists that use a camera for their expressions and art. This last picture is of Senigallie, Italy. Each photographer saw a part of Italy and captured it in frame, so that to the viewer, it gave a glimpse of where they were at that moment in time. Too bad we can’t do that with the different hardships we live through. Unfortunately they are usually scars in our emotional scrapbooks. However like these pictures, our heartfelt scars that we so painfully earned from whatever experience or challenge we dealt with, are beautiful in their own way, like the mist in the above pictures. Each one makes us unique. When we walk with God/TAO, each lesson we learn along the way, gives us genuine inner strength to begin each day knowing we are the masters of our own destiny. Living and Life, are part of the journey, getting there, being present for every moment of your waking hours, that is a gift. Share your gifts, the bounty returned will be a hundredfold.