If It Was Today...

Cold

Posted on February 22, 2015 by If It Was Today

Washington is wonderful city with a rich heritage of impressive monuments. It’s also a very pedestrian friendly city, at least in the core. This gives you the opportunity to see iconic monuments from a different perspective. So when I visit, I take every opportunity to get outside and walk; to my hotel, to meetings, or to dinner. I try to walk even when it’s cold, as it was on this last visit. Bitterly cold, according to the locals. A man visiting from Florida didn’t have words for the cold. He was hoping it would warm up to “bitterly cold”. But trust me, it was simply “cold”. Bitterly cold is what I felt when I stepped out of the airport in Ottawa, where the temperature was near minus 30, with a howling wind that made it feel more like minus 40.

I like winter, but I’ve had enough. I’m looking forward to spring. Only 5 or 6 more weeks to go … hopefully.

Posted in Photography, Travel | Tagged Photography, Travel, USA, Washington DC, Winter | Leave a comment

Over The Moon

Posted on February 20, 2015 by If It Was Today

On my first evening home after two weeks on the road, I was treated to a stunning view of Venus and Mars huddled beside the crescent moon in the cold evening sky. And I do mean cold. It’s minus 20 and falling. There is probably a metaphor hidden in there, but only one thought comes to mind.

The only thing better than travel is coming home.

Posted in Travel | Tagged Home, Moon, Photography, Travel | 5 Comments

A Walk In The Park

Posted on February 17, 2015 by If It Was Today

Today may have involved a walk in the park, in the literal sense, but yesterday’s flight was neither a literal nor a metaphorical walk in the park. A simple 90 minute direct flight from Ottawa to Washington turned into a six hour marathon, complete with a “refueling” stop in Buffalo, after 45 minutes circling Washington. This is not exactly the direct route. Check it out on a map. I’ll admit that it would have taken longer to fly back to Ottawa to refuel, but not by much. I’m not complaining mind you. I made it to my Washington hotel yesterday – with a good 7 minutes to spare. I had visions of spending the night on an airport boarding lounge bench in Buffalo.

I really do like Washington, and there are many things it does extremely well. But clearing snow is not one of them. It looks very scenic on the north lawn of the White House, but not on a runway.

It’s obvious that Washington doesn’t get this much snow very often. The federal government was shut down for a snow day, which of course meant that everyone was out enjoying the snow.

It was a very pleasant walk into the office today, where of course I was one of only a handful of people who actually made it into work. Along the way I was able to enjoy the Washington architecture in the bright sunshine.

Posted in Photography, Travel | Tagged Snow, Travel, USA, Washington DC | 1 Comment

Make The Best Of It

Posted on February 16, 2015 by If It Was Today

When your trip doesn’t work out quite as you’d hoped, you have a simple choice; focus on the inconvenience or embrace the opportunity. This often presents unusual opportunities. So when I found myself in a Miami airport hotel I decided to check out my balcony around sunset. I’m glad I did.

In spite of years of travel, there is still a bit of the wide-eyed little boy when I watch planes take off and land. Throw in a beautiful sunset, and I really can’t ask for more.

I would never take a trip just to watch planes land into the setting sun, but to be honest, it would almost be worth it.

Posted in Photography, Travel | Tagged Airports, Photography, Travel, USA | 2 Comments

Perspective

Posted on February 14, 2015 by If It Was Today

Palm trees. For me, they conjure up images of relaxing on a tropical beach, or at the very least lounging by the pool. But as you step back you begin to get hints of the true context.

As the camera zooms out, the full reality emerges.

The weather in Miami was wonderful – sunny and warm. Or so I’m told.

Posted in Photography, Travel | Tagged Florida, Travel, Tropical, USA | 1 Comment

Sunset

Posted on February 12, 2015 by If It Was Today

It was minus 15 degrees (near zero Fahrenheit) when I woke up, and 25 degrees (mid 70’s Fahrenheit) when I went to bed. Some travel was involved. In fact, quite a bit of travel. Other than airports and airplanes, the only thing of any interest I saw was the sunset on the descent into Miami.

The final touch was Venus just before we landed.

Posted in Photography, Travel | Tagged Miami, Sunset, Travel, USA | Leave a comment

Who Would Have Guessed

Posted on February 9, 2015 by If It Was Today

The ice sculpture competition at Winterlude attracts artists from around the world. You have the usual suspects for ice sculpture – Canada, USA, Russia and such – but the competition also attracts artists from less obvious places. Like Japan, where it is apparently a very popular art form. There were also artists from Peru and Malaysia. I must admit that last one took me completely by surprise. What exactly would make you think of ice sculpture if you grew up in a tropical country like Malaysia? I have no idea.

Posted in Canada, Photography | Tagged Canada, Ice Sculpture, Photography, Winter | 3 Comments

Bringer of the Sun

Posted on February 6, 2015 by If It Was Today

According to Latvian legend, at the winter solstice a horse brings light and wisdom to the earth for the coming year. I think this ice sculpture eloquently captures this theme.

In case you’re wondering about the Latvian connection, the Latvian embassy donated this to Winterlude.

I like this legend. I’m looking forward to more light over the coming months, and I can always use more wisdom.

Posted in Canada, Photography, Travel | Tagged Canada, Ice, Photography | 1 Comment

Groundhog Day

Posted on February 4, 2015 by If It Was Today

If it’s cloudy when the groundhog emerges from its burrow on February 2nd, spring will come early. On the other hand, if it’s sunny, and the groundhog sees its shadow, we will have six more weeks of winter. Or so the story goes.

There are so many things wrong with this story that I don’t know where to begin.

Let’s skip over the fact that this groundhog looks suspiciously un-groundhog-like and start with six more weeks of winter. Of course there are going to be six more weeks of winter. For heavens sake, it’s the beginning of February. It would be a minor miracle if there were *only* six more weeks of winter. Eight is more likely, and ten is a distinct possibility. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that this particular story originated in a climate much closer to where rocket scientists typically live.

To put things in perspective, where I live this is what it typically looks like on Groundhog Day.

Which brings us to another problem. Do you really think any groundhog equipped to survive the evolutionary lottery is about to come out of its burrow on a day like this? I don’t either.

With a story this confused, the only sensible (or perhaps foolish) thing to do is to go skating on a good old fashioned (for Canada) outdoor skating rink. By the way, the sun had long since set, so the groundhog didn’t see its shadow. Spring will come early.

Posted in Canada, Travel | Tagged Groundhog Day, Winter | 5 Comments

When Life Gives You Lemons

Posted on February 1, 2015 by If It Was Today

Obviously I don’t mean that literally. Life in this climate gives you many things, but a freshly picked lemon is not one of them. Unfortunately it just doesn’t have the same ring to it when you say “if life gives you snow, ice, and cold, then you might as well have a winter carnival”. But snow and ice and cold is exactly what Ottawa has this time of year. So every February it hosts a celebration called Winterlude, complete with ice sculptures, music, and other festivities.

Sunshine is an interesting thing. Take a moderately cold day with overcast skies and it’s enough to make you want to curl up in front of the fire with a good book and a glass of wine. Not that I’m suggesting there’s anything wrong with curling up in front of the fire with a good book and a glass of wine, mind you. But even if it is ten or twenty degrees colder, bright sunshine changes everything. It lifts your spirits. Add a bit of rhythm and before you know it everyone is having a great time. Thought it be fair, warm clothing helps a lot.

No discussion of winter in Ottawa would be complete without a picture of the canal, so I will include … wait for it … a picture of skaters on the canal.