Scenes from the War Museum...

... and in a back room amongst a number of other vehicles in various stages of refurbishment and preservation was the tarped G-Wagon ... the damage to the front end of this vehicle was caused by a landmine ... this vehicle had been previously displayed in the museum (click here), but is now in the backroom "out of view" - almost.

It was a powerful reminder of what War is ...

This one is for Beetle ...

I have this game ...

Years ago I got a box of stuff from the house of my Great Aunt Zipporah who used to live in New Hamburg Ontario until her death at the tender age of 102 !!!

Aunt Zipporah gave up her house in her mid-90's and moved into a care home.

From the box of stuff I found a very cool game that was given away by the CBC as part of the War Effort between 1939 and 1945. I thought it was called "Carry the Guns to Europe".

Today in the War Museum I found myself staring at the SAME game in a display case ... the title of the game in the display is "Carry the Tools to Europe." - but it's the same game ... I'm gonna have to look a little harder in the boxes of clutter I brought back from Mom's in the summer of 07 ... if I find the game I'll let you know what it's called ...

Peacekeeping ...

The Man

The Idea

The Outcome


Standing on Guard ...
... Lest We Forget.

One for the collection ...

.

He is an author,

a social activist,

a politician,

and

one of the

GREATEST

Hockey Goalies of ALL Time!!

.

and today

I got his AUTOGRAPH:

(meeting Ken Dryden was a highlight of tonight's dinner)

The View out my Hotel Room Window ...

They are Heroes in Life, Not Death ...

.

The Canadian Police and Peace Officer's Memorial

stands quietly over looking the Ottawa River

behind the House of Commons.

There are almost 750 names etched on the glass panels.

Today I found the one that matters to me.

.

They are our heroes,

we shall NOT forget them.

.

A Visit "to" Bella Coola ...

.

One of my favourite places in Ottawa is The Great Hall

in the Museum of Civilization.

One of the Longhouses displayed there is a replica of

a longhouse that once stood in Bella Coola ...

... inside the long house is a video filmed in 1990

at one of the Community Potlatches.

I can watch the film and name the elders who appear on the screen,

many of them are no longer with us,

they have gone to join the Spirit World of their Grandparents,

but the impression they left upon me remains ...

They were friends and so much more.

I wept as I watched the video ...

... it was another home coming of sorts for me ...
.

Huh !!!??? THIS one is for Candygirlflies ...

Back in September of 2007 I mused about the old typewriters I've used ... I included in the list a Smith Corona Word Processor that I bought during my University years - its twin was in the possession of my friend Candygirlflies who graces us online with her delightful blog - "I Can Fly, Just Not Up".

Today I was truly and utterly gob-smacked when at the Museum of Civilization I stumbledover the Smith Corona Word Processor pictured above ... while it is NOT the same model as the one CGF and I had, it is close ... this particular model though was on display in a corner dedicated to one of my favourite Canadian Authors - the curmudgeonly Mordecai Richler !!!!

I couldn't help but laugh at the thought, that while CGF and I were labouring over University papers and assignments, the Great Richler was crafting manuscripts for his fiction ... I wonder what came off the roller of his Smith Corona ???

This one is for C in Minnedosa ...

It's NOT every day you walk into a museum and find yourself face to face with a statue commemorating the Sunday School Teacher of a friend ... but today in The Museum of Civilization in Ottawa I found myself in just such a place ... I turned a corner and there standing in a glass display was a beautiful folk art statue of one of the Sunday School teachers my friend C from Minnedosa has spoken of ...

Mind you, given that he was premier of Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1961, helped introduce UNIVERSAL MEDICARE to Canada, was leader of the Federal NDP from 1961 to 1971, and was voted The GREATEST Canadian by a CBC run contest in 2004, the least they could do for Tommy Douglas was erect a statue of him !!!

This one is for you C ... I thought of you when I stood before the great (and very humble) man!!