Openning Day on the Canal

The Rideau Canal skateway opened this morning.  It was cold, but I was able to sit at a sunny table out of the wind and sketch for a few minutes.  At -16 C you can get away with this if you move fast, but soon your hand seizes up and starts to really hurt.  I wouldn't even try to paint at that temperature.  The watercolour was applied at home.

This is the change shack and Beavertail concession at 5th Avenue.  Beavertails are a sort of cinnamony, gooey donut that is very popular with schoolkids and also seems to be memorable to tourists. They were selling well and the girls in the foreground were sharing one.

Long Blades

I live very close to the Rideau Canal in Ottawa and in the winter skate frequently, like 3 or 4 nights a week.  The Rideau Skateway is about 7 km long. So up and back is good jaunt - usually about an hour on my wobbly legs.  For years I've wanted to get some speed skates, but never managed to get around to it.  This year I found some really cool long blades under the Christmas Tree,  perfect for a recreational skater like me.  They have cross country bindings on them, which means I can put my boots on at home and click into the blades when I arrive at the ice.  The canal is pretty rough and not yet open as of today, but I hope to try them next weekend at the speed skating oval at Brewer Park nearby.

So this is a fitting way to look towards the new year, in that its about moving forward with grace and speed...or at least, moving forward.  Last winter I sketched the cabins in Gatineau Park; this year I think the theme for my winter sketch outings may be the Skateway.

This closes out 110 postings this year.  I have some followers, and many friends who look intermittently, so to all of you, may you have health, and find beauty and gratitude in what each day presents this next year.

Skating on the Canal

The last few winters haven't been as long as they used to be, but no one is describing Ottawa's winter as warm yet.
About half of the 8 km. length of the canal skateway is open. As it worked out
I skated it three times yesterday.  In the morning for fun, in the afternoon for world wide sketchcrawl 34 and then last night to accompany my son home from downtown.  I must say by then my new skates were chaffing a bit.

I didn't have any companions for the sketchcrawl, except for the 4000 or so people out enjoying the ice.  Its always a fun experience  with all the colourfulclothing, variety of skates and complete range of ages.  I did a sketch of Patterson Creek last summer and realized how unique it must seem in winter to my viewers from warmer countries.  The little building has washrooms and a place to change into your skates.  We just leave our shoes under the benches and I have never heard of anyone losing them.  Access to the actual canal is under the little arched bridge where you have the choice to skate north all the way downtown, or south to Dow's Lake. There are several other change huts along the canal, but many people just use benches out on the open ice, or sit on the snow like the guy in the upper sketch.  

Summer sketch -  http://johnssketchjournal.blogspot.com/2011/06/patterson-creek.html

Used Skates - Free to a Good Home

I bought these skates when I was student in Toronto many winters past. Somewhere along the line my feet grew and they hurt, but I never got around to replacing them.

Low and behold, there were new skates under the Christmas tree this year.  I skated on the Rideau Canal at least three times a week last winter - this year will be even better.  They were flooding the ice this morning, it shouldn't be long now.