WTF Spring? Looks like a blizzard out there

The title for this post says it all! Spring started yesterday and it was a really nice day outside. Sunny, above the freezing mark, and when I look outside now, I wonder, when is it going to end! I remember the groundhog not seeing it's shadow, and now I wonder, how could this be!?!?

Street view: Painted Ladies of Sparks St.

It's such a nice day today! The sun is out, just around the freezing mark, you can feel that winter is on it's way out. Over the lunch hour, I was walking down Sparks Street, and saw the ladies again, and thought to myself, I have to get them from the ground. Here's a few pictures of the ladies:

midnight reflection

This photo is another attempt to capture light, however through reflection. The pool of water is the reflective matter which is surrounded by snow and pavement. Part of what I hope is a spring thaw, which can't come early enough. The photo didn't come out as good as I had wanted it, but this was my first attempt. I hope to do this again sometime later this year, and see how water can be used to reflect light.

Slushy Sparks Street

Yesterday we received about 20cm of snow and today it's raining! Here's a photo of Sparks Street during the lunch hour. You can see the slushy ground. What a mess, not looking forward to this freezing tonight! I guess that's winter here in Canada and more particularly in Ottawa! I am looking forward to warmer weather.

Watch out for the ice

Yet another sign, this one was taken during another trip at a Winterlude site this afternoon. It's not the best pic, as I had forgotten my P&S at work, and didn't bring my bigger camera out as I wasn't expecting to make it out there, so this was shot with my IPhone. I figured since I had a mini theme of getting unusual signs, this one fits the bill. I kind of reminds me of the signs you see when people are washing floors, warning you about the wet floor and slipping. This is is related, but because of icy conditions.

Icy flow

The weather change from yesterday to today was quite harsh! We had 11C (52) and today it was -12C (9F), but really -22C (-8F) including the wind chill, so any way you look it, it's quite the change and probably explains a bit why I have a runny nose! So today, I hoped to catch a display of how the weather changed and I took this shot which isn't the greatest, but gives a bit of an idea of what can happen when things melt and freeze:

Too many photos: Ottawa wanderings and Winterlude

Normally I try to post one photo or a couple of photos at most, but today it was difficult for me to just post one photo. I was out and about around Ottawa and checked out a bit of Winterlude at Confederation Park, and got some nice ice sculpture photos, signs, etc. Then walked in the market and headed for Jaques Cartier Park, and got some nice shots from behind Parliament and then walked across to the bridge headed to to Jacques Cartier Park. As we walked to the front entrance, we were told that the park was closing in 7 minutes and were not allowed in :( The good ole security folks in Quebec refused us entry! Ah well, on the way back, I caught some more photos of Parliament, and other sights around town. Here are some images, check out the slideshow a the bottom or to view all pics in a larger format, follow this link.

Enjoy:

From Winterlude and Ottawa walkabout Feb 12, 2011

From Winterlude and Ottawa walkabout Feb 12, 2011

From Winterlude and Ottawa walkabout Feb 12, 2011

From Winterlude and Ottawa walkabout Feb 12, 2011

Snowy evergreen...

Today, I wasn't sure what photo I was going to take. But then when I saw this tree, I told myself, I need to catch a snowy evergreen. This photo was also influenced by a friend who is also doing a 365 and posted a few photos of trees the other day. So here you go:

Not your typical road sign..

I had noticed this sign a few weeks ago, and thought to myself, geeze this isn't a typical road sign. I don't remember seeing that sign earlier in the year, and then it struck me, it's probably only there when people go skating on Dow's Lake and the canal, and the image represents skating, even though the skates are quite long, almost like short cross country skis or something else. On another note, I'm not sure what the sign is doing next to the road as there is no skating right next to the road. A bit puzzling, but then again, quite unique:

Big Reminders of Home

Today's photos are really big reminders of home. Some of you may not know, but I was brought up on a farm, and my dad still has cows and I even own some cows. I usually make a trip or two to the barn each time I come home. I like seeing the cows, see how they are doing, etc. They all look nice and healthy. That is something I do miss on occasion when I'm in Ottawa.

Winter line..

Somethings you just don't expect to see. Today's photo was a bit of a surprise to me. I was running an errand this afternoon and ended up stopping by a friend's place and was surprised to see clothes drying or freezing on the clothesline. The temperature was -15C (5F) and -25C (-13F) with the windchill. Not a temperature where you'd expect to be drying clothes, but then again, it might work. I guess any attempt to save energy and help the environment is not a bad thing.

Moving light or light movement?

Today's photo was an attempt to capture light. I am sometimes surprised of what a small point and shoot can do with very little options to control the environment. I decided to be a bit creative today and capture light while moving and see what I came up with and here are two photos that I took. There are aspects in both that I like and didn't know if I was just going to use one or the other, and decided to show both photos.

Canadian tradition: pond hockey

I wasn't sure what photo I was going to take today. I went through my normal day, and there wasn't anything in particular that caught my attention, and after my volleyball game, I figured I'd go for a little ride up the street and thought I'd go for a little walk and take a few pics of the outdoor rink on Preston St, next to the Plant. This is definitely one of Canada's biggest tradition, to see people out on the pond, playing pickup hockey, hearing the laughter the calls, the puck hitting the boards, the skates grinding the ice, it's just a comforting feeling. Something that I consider to be truly Canadian!

Dedication or craziness: winter cycling

Dedication or Craziness?!?!

This morning as I was waiting for the bus, I saw someone riding down the sidewalk and thought to myself, is this just craziness? It's currently -17C (0F) and with the wind -25C (-13F) and on top of that it's snowing and slippery outside. Again is this just craziness or dedication? I had posted about a week ago regarding a bicycle that I had noticed outside a gym where I play volleyball and though, this is just ridiculous, and again this morning I see another cyclist riding down the street with his white toque. Some people just surprise me, and it just happened to be my caption for today.

Bitter COLD Monday...

Some of this week's photos will probably highlight some of the features from my office as our group is moving to another building. I hope to take some photos from my work environment as it will forever change, as I doubt I'll ever be in this office again.

Today's photo is called: empty playground. My window view as featured in a previous photo was the kids outside playing, however I doubt I'll be seeing kids out today. The weather is currently -29C (-20F) but even crazier with the windchill as it's currently -39C (-38F), which is very COLD!

Ottawa's large igloo's...

Another bitter cold day in Ottawa! Today's temperature was -29C (-20F) plus windchill which resulted in a VERY COLD -34C (-29F)! I wasn't sure what photo to take, then I passed by the big huts where skaters can put on their skates and go skating on the canal, or Dow's Lake. I didn't drive by earlier, but I imagine that there weren't that many skaters that braved the cold today. However, the large bubbles aren't like true igloos, as they are not very warm. Igloos surprisingly hold in a lot of heat as snow is a really good insulator. These are just made with some sort of tarp material and un-insulated. They are still nice as they provide a little bit of a wind break, and a place to sit down when putting on your skates. I haven't gone skating on the canal yet, but as soon as it's not -29C and the temperature becomes a bit more bearable, I imagine I'll go out for a nice little skate on the canal.

Morning frost...

This really reminds me of my childhood. It's something simple, it's about winter, but it's neat to see what frost can do to a window or the effects of frost on a window. I remembered seeing this last year on this window and thought to myself, someday I'll try to take a photo of it. I took some photos this morning. I'm not truly doing it it justice, but it was my first attempt at capturing the frost.

Winter street view..

Wasn't sure what photo I was going to take today. I decided to take a street view, a winter street view. A bit boring, but what can I say, I came home with a headache and decided to stay home. Had a nice long nap and then realized I had to take a photo, and at this time at night, I figured I would look around and see what I could take. So here's my photo for today.

Winter dedication or just craziness!

Some people just make me wonder. Is it really worth it? I hadn't selected my shot for the day, but I figured I'd get something in the downtown area as I was playing volleyball tonight at a high school gym downtown. I had a few minutes to spare before the game and after I parked my car, I looked around and nothing caught my eye. As I walked closer to the school entrance, right next to the entrance I noticed this bicycle. At first I was thinking, oh my, someone left their bicycle here before the snow, and then took a second look and realized, nope this bike is got here tonight. If you look under the lower frame section, you notice dark glob, well that's dirty snow that has gathered from splashing from the front tire. The person riding this bike even has a contraption to keep his hands warm over the steering wheel! Now, I might do silly things and some people might even think they are crazy at times, but I would not be driving my bicycle at -29 degrees Celsius (including windchill and that is -20 Fahrenheit for those readers South of the border) in the winter. The non windchill weather was around -19 degrees Celsius, and figure the -29 is with regular windchill, not the extra draft/wind that the bicycle produces. Well, not sure what else to say other than this made for an interesting photo today.

Snow covered car...

Today was a snowy day...lots of snow, well not too too much snow, I've seen way worse, but I figured that I hadn't really captured any snow yet in my photos, I'd capture my car covered in a little bit of the white powder.