The Never Ending Winter of 2013/14

I love winter.  Seriously.  I’m the type of person who rubs fresh fluffy snow on my face to feel the cold, to smell the unmistakable clean crispness that only comes from a new snowfall.  I do this with bare hands.  I love the squeak under my boots, the blinding sparkles that comes with the flat flakes that I refer to as diamond dust.  The rosy cheeks, the tingle that comes after you get back into a warm setting.  I love it all.

For a reasonable amount of time.

Spring seems to have forgotten us here in Canada this year.  We are currently in the last week of March, and it should not be this cold.  I just looked it up…the usual average temperature for this time of year is about 6C.  That’s above zero.  Yesterday…-30C in the wind.  Even I am starting to have enough.

One thing I normally love about winter is getting out on my skiis and taking pictures.  Because of a knee injury I wasn’t able to go but once , so that may have something to do with my grumpiness.  I still managed to take some, but walking in the white stuff was rather painful, so I didn’t get many.  Here are a some of my favorites.  Enjoy.

Peacekeepers Monument

Maman outside the National Art Gallery

On my way to work

Parliament Hill on a snowy morning

The Cenotaph after a snowfall

Coloured lights in a tree

The Rideau Canal with Parliament and the Chateau Laurier Hotel

It’s gonna be a tough ride home for someone

The Rideau Canal with Parliament Hill in the background

Walking along Elgin Street

Stairs off of Elgin Street

Lockmaster’s Office along the Rideau Canal

Beside the Chateau Laurier Hotel

The Peacetower from Major’s Hill Park

Notre Dame Basilica through Major’s Hill Park

Fence along Parliament Hill

Peeking through the snow at the “Women are Persons” monument

Police and Peace Officer Memorial

Going home along the Ottawa River Parkway

Snowy pinecones

Birch tree along the Ottawa River

Birch along the Ottawa River

Just some fungi and some snow

Tracks in the snow

Along the Ottawa River

Early on a snowy Sunday morning in downtown Ottawa