One of those days

You know you are going to have one of those Mondays when there you are plowing along, and the truck ends up in the ditch, and somebody comes along and takes your picture.

Sculpted

The crucifix at St-Grégoire Roman Catholic Church in Vankleek Hill is a detailed sculpture that gives the impression that Jesus Christ pumped some iron in his day.

Icy cylinder

We have been toughing out a typical January cold snap here. As the temperature drops to below 35 C, everything is at risk of freezing.

This solid ice cylinder was formed in a drainage pipe on the Long Sault Bridge between Hawkesbury, Ontario and Grenville, Québec. Luckily nobody was standing around when this block hit the ground.

Fresh dill

In the wake of a day of freeing rain, vegetation takes on a silvery sheen.

Sunrise on the Ottawa

Shooting a sunrise on the Ottawa River at Hawkesbury is a great way to greet the day, if you are dressed for the cold, the damp cold.

Tenacious visitor

You never know what you will find hanging around a feeder.

Peace on the Hill

The Peace Tower on Parliament Hill is lit up like a Christmas tree at this time of year.

The place where politics is the name of the game actually looks calm and dreamlike, especially at night.

Late flight

Winter always seems to catch us unprepared. But even geese were surprised to see our first major snowfall of the year last week.

Hey, Rudolph...

Morphed

A fire at the John Deere dealership in Maxville, a village east of Ottawa, wiped out an old building and left a slightly melted sign, which may give new meaning to the line that nothing runs like a John Deere. In fact, the unintentional colour mix has potential.

Oops!

Winter always seems to catch some of us offguard. Maybe Santa left this boot when he was scoping out his route.

Cool harvest

I took this shot about a week ago. It is a glimpse of a huge corn field beside my house. It is not my crop, but I know it well. I have watched the snow recede from the land, the spring seeding, the late spring sprouting, and the mid-summer spurt when the deep green stalks were knee high by the Fourth of July. I watched it tassel and when the raccoons started their late-night raids, I knew the corn was mature. I watched the sun rise and set on this stand as it turned from green to gold. Only a few days ago, snow covered the corn. But Mother Nature, in her own way, smiled, and the snow left for a few days enabling the harvest of these stalks which yielded countless bushels of corn. Combines worked non-stop on the frozen ground, bringing in tonnes of corn. The field is now bare, awaiting the snow.
So, what do you think? Too wordy?

In the big league

Steve Barton is an example of a smalltown guy who can make it in the big leagues.

A veteran National Hockey League linesman, Steve is from Vankleek Hill, a small town in eastern Ontario.

Ronna got this shot of him when he worked a game at the Centre Bell in Montréal recently.

Armed, not dangerous

Wonder who the owner of these bumper stickers would vote for...

Wire and ice

We have had the usual mixed bag of weather lately, ranging from snow to rain, freezing rain and balmy temperatures. The result on some days was a covering of ice which left some neat photo ops.