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Every time I go for a Sunday morning walk I encounter something unexpected. Last time it was a heron in the Rideau River, and the exercise park at Mooney's Bay.

Last night Beulah and I drove by the Arboretum, and I said, "That would be a nice place to go walking." I haven't been there in years: it's the eastern part of the Experimental farm, bordering on Dow's Lake, where there are beautiful old trees, nice lawns, tiny canals with curved bridges over them, and many weeping willows. Many of the trees are labelled as to species, with their name in English, French and Lain, and the date of planting. As a kid, I went there for picnics in summer and tobogganing in winter.

So I went there this morning, and found the walking path on the western side of the lake, and walked southwards. The first surprise: a pipe band was playing at Carleton University, across the canal. I wonder why! It looked military, with read coats and busbees. They were playing a marching tune whose title I don't know, but recognized from Horatio Hornblower. No, not the Marseillaise - the other, British one.

There were some beautiful, happy dogs and their well-exercised owners. I went as far as I could but had to turn west again at the other end of the locks; past a blunt-ended motorboat and several lock-related buildings, up the road towards Fisher Ave. There I stumbled on the second surprise: a Wildlife Park.

It was full of twisty paths and wildflowers. I heard birds singing, but the only wildlife I saw was a morning dove wandering along the path, and a cute terrier who sniffed my ankles in friendly fashion, leading his owner behind him.

I ended up at the west end of the arboretum, where a young man had a booth where he was selling strawberries so aromatic I could smell them thirty feet away. I was wishing I had been there a month ago, when the flowering trees would all have been in bloom. There was a huge wild cherry that I coudn't identify till I read the sign.

Since I was so close, I decided to go to the frog pond, one of my favourite spots in Ottawa. First I wandered through the Ornamental Gardens, leaving the Frog Pond for the last, climactic spot.

The lilacs were no longer in bloom but the roses were magnificent - or at least, as magnificent as Canadian roses can be. I thought our roses were fine till I lived in England and saw what rose bushes can look like in another climate. I love the names of roses, and tried to remember a few of the breeds this time: Bonica, Prince Edward, Careless Wanderer. There are huge beds of roses, and roses on trellises over the paths, and roses on hedges delineating the sections. That area smelled lovely too. One interesting trellised area was not over a path: looking more closely, I saw it was an extremely decorative water fountain. Beautiful.

Then I got to my Frog Pond. I love it as much as I did when I was five. I remembered it as smaller, and darker. There are no real frogs there and never were. There are - or were - two big brass bullfrogs, one at either end of the pond, which is about 20 feet long. The frogs shoot a fountain of water out of there mouths. (I shouldn't have said that - I'm really bad at estimating sizes.) Currently there is only one brass frog, which makes me doubt my memory that there used to be two - but there's a spot for a second one. I hope it is being cleaned, not that it was stolen or broken.

I went home by cutting through Commissioner's Park, where a group of people in red t-shirts were doing exercises - I thought at first it was tai chi, but no, it was quite different.

Maybe three miles each way, putting me six miles closer to Rivendell.

Date: 2003-07-13 04:23 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] the-tenth-muse.livejournal.com
that sounds so cool. I need to go somewhere all naturey and nice like that. siiiigh.

Date: 2003-07-13 05:11 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fajrdrako.livejournal.com
It's like taking a little early-morning vacation for an hour or so. I should try to walk in places like that - by the river, maybe - in the mornings more often; it's incredibly refreshing and puts a person in a great mood to start the day.

Date: 2003-07-13 05:19 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] the-tenth-muse.livejournal.com
yeah. I wish there *was* a place like that around here, but not. siiiigh. have some fun for me, will you? :o)

Date: 2003-07-13 05:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fajrdrako.livejournal.com
I know I am exceptionally lucky in the city I live in, and my location in the city. There are so many wonderful places to walk - places that are both beautiful and safe.

I was thinking today how it's like having an army of gardeners taking care of my back yard, all of them paid by the government rather than by me!

Where do you live?

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