Mon, July 11, 2011: Around Ottawa

Sera and I headed out on Monday to explore Ottawa which is, as Andy put it, "the capitol of all of Canada" (which was news to me... why did I not know that? It's only like 7 hours from where I grew up. That's closer than D.C....). We had considered going for a hike, but intermittent rain showers made staying in the city seem like a better idea.

We made an amusing entry into the city. With no GPS and not knowing quite exactly how to get to where we wanted to be, we aimed for landmarks that Sera knows and made a left-turn-only spiral to our destination. It was great, as I got a mini tour from the car!

This canal connects Montreal to Ottawa, and we sat and watched for a bit as the little area where the boats were filled with water, bringing it to the level of the next area of water before the gates would open.
The government buildings are plentiful in Ottawa, and I thought they were so beautiful with their spiky roof lines and green copper roof tops.
We don't really have much architecture like this in the US and it reminded me of Europe.
On the ground was this random puzzle piece, which was interesting to me because there wasn't much litter on the ground at all. I wondered where it came from and how it got there, and wondered if the puzzle felt incomplete without this piece, and if the piece felt lost without its puzzle home.
The clock tower was chiming symphonies the entire time we walked around the complex, which Sera said is unusual as it usually plays a song and then rings out the time. One of the songs it played is "My Country 'Tis of Thee", which I found really weird for obvious reasons.
This is the main government building. I think it's way more grand than ours!
Signs everywhere were in both English and French:
We walked into a little park on a hill high above the river, and the rain finally let up enough that we could put our umbrellas away.
Lunch was a sandwich on the most delicious oven-baked bagel that I have ever tasted. YUM! Next we headed to an outdoor market, which seemed a bit empty, perhaps due to the rain. There were still many vendors out, selling jewelry, clothing, and food, and I liked the atmosphere.
We headed back to their house, where I sat and read for a while as wandering around the city tired me out! Andy cooked us a delicious trout dinner (it was my first time eating trout and I loved it!), and I learned that they are also into tiny houses! We talked about them for a while, and shared our dreams of living in a small home on a plot of land, with gardens and animals and lots of outdoor space.

Apparently every evening, weather permitting, there is a light show on the main government clock tower building, and we hoped that since it had stopped raining after dinner we may be able to catch the show. We drove into the city. Sera let me sit in the front because I have been getting motion sickness in the back seats of cars lately (which is new for me, it's never been a problem before). I had another experience with energy that was really interesting. I could see that Sera and Andy were fused together like two jellybeans attached to each other. Their collective energy was very strong and kind of purple-gray, with something like a thick barrier around it.

I was feeling kind of impish about it so reached out in my mind and poked at it to see what would happen. I think maybe that sounds kind of weird, but that's what I did - almost like poking one's finger into a balloon. The barrier had some resistance and bowed inward a bit where I poked, but mostly it just felt really thick and impenetrable. When I withdrew it bounced right back. It was really interesting and magical to know that they were existing together within this thick protective force field, and it also made me recognize how accustomed I am to experiencing people's energy. I was unable to feel theirs. I realized that I would like to become more aware of how I interact with the energy of others. I think that right now it's mostly a subconscious process, and I would like to work on making it more conscious so that I can be more respectful in the way that I interact with it.

The light show was cancelled for that evening, so they took me to a park with a beautiful waterfall which flowed out into a rocky kind of canyon area. Though it was dark out, the waterfall was white and churning and easily visible, and its sound was soothing and awakening at the same time.

In this life, we are constantly surrounded by people who are living as they have been told they should live. Some of these people actually want to live that way, for feelings of prestige, success, security, providing the best way they know how for their family. I often wonder, in the green, neat, homogenous suburbs, how many people living in those houses want or have ever contemplated wanting a different way of life? I have always felt that if I had to live in the suburbs, I would diminish to a shell of a person, all the light in me dried up into dust. So much of the magic of life for me is found in nature, and I long for the day when I can surround myself with it.

It was so wonderful to feel that there are other people out there with dreams similar to mine, and a heart-warming surprise to learn that those people are already friends of mine.