Fall colours

Dam scenic

High sky

You have to love a high sky in July, eh?

Canada Day, eh?

So, you cannot have a Canada Day celebration without a piper in a boat, a duck and a boat named Titanic, and some quiet time by the dock, eh?

A blast

Party season officially arrived last week in these parts, with the annual St-Jean-Baptiste celebrations, which in some parts of eastern Ontario and western Québec signal the start of summer. Happy Canada Day and July 4th!

Captive audience

The Old  L'Orignal Jail opens its doors to visitors every summer, hosting a variety of events, including a recent art show. There are few galleries that advise visitors to be aware of barbed wire!

On guard for thee

Eastern Ontario is a great training ground for army reservists, as we learned last weekend during an encounter with members of the Royal Canadian Hussars, who were carrying out exercises, with unloaded weapons.

Looks like snow

I never tire of shooting geese, with a camera of course.

Overhead display

We all know that Spring can still pack some wintry punch, but it sure is nice to marvel at some early-spring rituals, such as the return of geese.

Shiny, heavy metal

One of the best things about this newspaper racket is that occasionally you get to wear special protective gear as you tour a steel-making plant. The scene at times resembled an Elton John retro convention or a bad sci fi-heavy metal mix on roids. But actually this was serious stuff -- we taxpayers are spending $10 million to help a local industry invest a total of $80 million in an expansion that will create jobs, increase efficiency, and -- get this -- reduce the foundry's impact on the environment.

In these parts, the colour of money is a bright red, as in sparks created by an arc furnace.

Support

Whenever you are trying something new, it is helpful to receive some support.

Promising

There are more and more signs that spring may soon be on the horizon. But we know better -- Old Man Winter is a persistent sort and is bound to hang around for at least another six weeks, eh?

Snowballs

The combination of wind and wet snow has created these whimsical snowballs in fields.

That is more like it

You know that all this mild winter weather was just a teaser for the real conditions we are used to. And, of course, the biggest blast of the season so far arrived on Friday the 13th!