Goodbye Ottawa

With much hesitation, we said goodbye to Ottawa.

We are, indeed, happy to start a new chapter in the Keyes Chronicles. A chapter where David will be making some monies. A chapter where we will be a few hours drive away from family instead of a few hours flight. A chapter of new friends and new opportunities for all.

But should we dog-tag the last chapter? Who knows. Maybe we will end up back in Ottawa in a few years or a few decades in our life's journey. Big Dragon did after all, served his mission with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints there 10 years before starting law school at the University of Ottawa. Life likes to repeat itself. Perhaps when he is a mature lawyer, career paths may lead us to this great country's capital once more. Only time will tell.

Lewis knew the POGO restaurant and was on a first-name-basis with the owner.

We say goodbye to the beautiful Ottawa Autumns, full of glow-in-the-dark yellows, fire engine reds and pumpkin orange leaves. The Autumns that tend to linger a month or more after the prairies get slaughtered by bitter cold winds and several feet of snow. The Bytowne Market overflowing with juicy fruits and vegetables as the farmers profit from the harvest and my belly profits from the farmers hard work.The magical sunsets. The sunsets with the silhouettes of the Parliament, Supreme Court and Chateau Laurier. Trick-or-Treating at 24 Sussex, even though BOTH years when we actually went, the PM was either A) at a Conservative Conference in Calgary and then B) hidden away in his house, turning away the general public because he was afraid of getting gunned down by a crazy ( i.e. person with mental illness storming the Parliament building in September 2014). Lame Harper. Lame. Our family was so unimpressed by your absences. We EVEN dressed up our one-year old as you, Stephen. We made the local TV news that night. I preplanned my speaking bit, Dave and I were dressed up as security guards, saying "He likes eating, dogs and cars."  I still remember the Bay worker, after explaining my costume idea she responded instantly with, "That WILL be a very scary costume." Nobody likes Harper in Ottawa.

We say goodbye to the Ottawa winters. Although the last two were probably the worst winters I have ever experienced, with the freezing rain and the November to April, yes, APRIL cold months. Seriously Canada, Winter is not supposed to be six months long, get your seasons right, geez. And the humidity. Goodness, the humidity. They say it freezes you to the bone. They are correct. No matter how many layers you throw together you will still be cold and remain cold for a few days after being indoors and showering in hot water. Okay, so maybe the Winters was an easier thing to say goodbye to.

Ottawa had it's good qualities, even in the Winter months. The Santa Claus Parade, where people didn't throw candy to onlookers but the audience participants give toys to the firefighters who were constantly walking between floats. Winterlude was a beautiful thing. At the beginning of February, right when the Christmas afterglow is starting to wear off, it's like Second Christmas. Winterlude includes skating on the canal (yes, the entire Rideau canal is frozen over and maintained so that people can skate to school or even work, only in Canada, right?), eating high calorie Beavertails (think a truly Canadian version of the carnival favourite "Elephant Ears" cinnamon sugar, maple butter, or who can forget Nutella?), fireworks, dance music, and the fast-as-lighting ice slides.

We say goodbye to the Ottawa Springs. Just like anywhere in Canada the Winter to Spring season happens in literally a day. It goes from stormy and snowing with temperatures reaching lows of -20 to sunny and +10 overnight. In the Spring, we will miss the tulip festival. Thousands upon thousands of tulips line the streets, parks and Parliament, a thank-you from the Netherlands during WWII when Canada temporarily designated part of a maternity as international soil for Princess Juliana to be born at the Ottawa Civic hospital. We will miss the walks across the gorgeous Alexandra bridge to the National Art Gallery.

We say goodbye to all of the museums. It was amazing to see on a regular basis, the beautiful buildings where millions of our federal tax dollars are spent. In the Spring, we would go to the Agriculture museum to pay a visit to the baby calves, chickens, goats, sheep and pigs. Eat food at the kitchen exhibits and play outside on their impressive "farm" themed park. The Nature museum housed at first, a giant whale and then later a humongous jellyfish, high in the glass display, above the front doors. This building was one of my favourite ones in Ottawa. Built over a 100 years ago by Scottish stone workers, it looks like a castle that you would see on the green hills of Scotland. Inside, many creatures could be found, from dinosaur fossils (Little Dragon was obsessed with the Duckbill dinosaur video, "see the teeth and the motion of the jaw?" says the snaggle-toothed Paleontologist over and over again, once in French then in English, then to French again, "Little Dragon please stop pressing the button!)" to stuffed cougars (real animals, not me after eating at the Cafe there). Inside there was an animal that stirred any individuals' curiosity or to some, closely resembled. The skeleton of the giant Blue Whale in the Water wing (no pun intended) exhibit and the make-your-own volcano or earthquake in the Earth/Minerals exhibit. There was also the bugs and spiders, gross! And the birds section as well. Which as you can tell were anticlimactic when compared to giant whales or dinosaurs. Seriously though, what compares to dinosaur fossils?

Boat ride with Gramma and Grandpa Hornberger. Because it is fun to be "tourists" the last week we lived in Ottawa.

The Space and Aviation museum where Little Dragon loved the gift shop. Seriously! What is it with kids and gift shops? There was so many neat things to see and it was like pulling teeth to get him away from that Godless part of the museum! Rant over.

One time, without even knowing, I went to the Space museum and there just happened to be a press release of the new space exploration budget. So, that meant that my parents (who were visiting) Little Dragon and I got to meet a couple of real Canadian astronauts. Not Chris Hadfield, sorry. They were the B listed astronauts. He was probably too busy touring Canada with his public speaking circuit.

The Science and Technology museum was super neat... until it became infested with mold and was shut down due to health concerns. Whoops! Ha ha, that is probably why I came out of there feeling so "enlightened" with knowledge. We loved the interactive stage that showed kids solid, liquid, gas using dry ice. The physics demonstration and the electricity one, which of course, included holding onto a giant metal ball and having your hair go all frizzy. Little Dragon loved seeing "real" cars throughout the ages, and "real" trains (they added on a section of the building for the sole purpose of being able to FIT trains inside).


And the museum we frequented the most and will have the longest impact on me and my family is the museum of History, formerly known as the Museum of Civilization. I enjoyed the many diverse exhibits on the Mayans, the Empress of Ireland, Terry Fox, Confederation, Voodooism, Mr. Potato Head (yup, the toy not a nickname for a politician), Stamps (yes, stamps), great Canadians (like Herman "Jackrabbit" Smith-Johannsen, x-country skier who lived to be 111, look him up! Ahhmazing!), Queen Elizabeth (blah, not so amazing), Immigrants, the majestic East Coast totem poles (I think I will continue to have dreams about these beauties), Bob the Builder, and last, but not the least the beloved Children's museum. It was such a relief and joy to bring him to a place where he was expected to play. A place where everything was hands on. One time he literally marked his territory while we were there and peed all over the floor. Not our proudest moment, but a moment nonetheless.

We say goodbye to the Summers. No. We don't. We never experienced a true summer in Ottawa because we always went back to Alberta so Big Dragon could get a good "hands on" Alberta legal education. We will be back for part of a summer. Mark my words.

Big Dragon and Reagan Walker, a scholar (retired lawyer) and a gentleman. Big Dragon is like baby Anakin (aww) and Reagan is like Yoda at the law.

Because really, the hardest thing is saying goodbye to our friends in Ottawa. So to them, we say "See you again!"

Jojo, our neighbor from across the street. She knocked on our door if our canopy or garbages were blowing around. Brought us over canned ketchup and beets. She was our Quebecoise Grandma. Lewis would watch for her out our window, "Look for Jojo!" I would say to occupy him on rough days. A true friend and will always be associated with our memories when we recall "the good ol' days".