On the trail of the not-so-lonesome pine

The weekend, as often, has been an unmitigated disaster. At least for me. For some reason, work only seems to come in on Friday afternoon, and the poor consultant (gets tiny violin out of case) is left with little option but to say "no problem, mate, I can do it". This is what comes of making a break for freedom.

So while Mrs Ottawacker was taking Ottawacker Jr on the Sno-bus (this might be the final year of coaxing him onto it with the words "but, Ottawacker Jr, it is THE SNO-BUS"), I crossed "I"s and dotted "t"s, underlined bits that were already underlined, folded the laundry and went to pick them up from the SNO-BUS STOP.

The SNO-BUS, for the uninitiated, is the free bus that takes people around the sites of the Winterlude. Winterlude, for the uninitiated, is what happens when you live in a northerly clime and have the world's largest skating rink on your doorstep (as opposed to the world's tiniest violin - although the purpose is the same). The world's longest skating rink, for the uninitiated - I am sorry, Winnipeg has been on the phone - is the Rideau Canal. The Rideau Canal... look, haven't you got WIkipedia? Just look it up. (Note: my consultant hat is ill fitting today.)

Anyway, off they went to have fun (or one of them did) and while waiting for the allotted hour and time (not having a cell phone keeps the brain ticking over), I pulled into the Arboretum (for the uninitiated, see the Rideau Canal) and sat staring at the trees for a couple of minutes. Even I can see the beauty in snow-covered pines (or SNO-COVERED PINES, if you are Ottawa marketing)... so maybe winter is not past redemption in my soul just yet.

Yeah. Right.