Earth Hour - Real or Hypocrisy?

Margot, Glosette Girl and I got into the spirit of "Earth Hour" on Saturday Night. We turned off the lights in our house and just used candles. It was quite pretty.

The quiet of candles

Since Earth Hour is from 8:30-9:30 pm it was a bit of a bonus hour for Margot as normally she's asleep at this time. Lucky girl!

I feel a bit conflicted about these sort of "awareness" or "protest" style events. On the one hand, I do believe in human-induced climate change so I am not shy about showing my support for this cause. On the other hand, I live a typical Western lifestyle; I own multiple gadgets consuming electricity, I drive a gasoline powered car; and I live in a natural gas heated home. I don't see any of that changing any time soon (except maybe the car - c'mon Tesla - hurry up and break down the fossil fuel paradigm!). Similarly, I also am a little bit cynical towards the constant social media protests that people seem to join (not necessarily related to climate change) without any change of behavior.

However, in the end, I am an optimistic person who believes that small changes in my own behaviour can improve the world for my lil' girl.

Is that a ghost? ...or a little girl who's awake past her bedtime?

Here are things we do in our household to try and help the environment:

• We never leave the car running to heat up even in the dead of winter - Glosette girl is a trooper on that front as she's the one who does the most driving.
• We recycle as much as possible (cardboard, cans/bottles and organics) - very grateful for Ottawa for having those programs!
• We have a thermometre that turns down the heat when we are out of the house (that just makes practical sense)
• We have chosen to live in a neighbourhood where you can walk to many amenities. 
• Glosette Girl tries to get me to eat vegetarian as much as possible.

It's not much but at least it's something. And we're fortunate enough to be able to afford some of the environmental choices we make - although I'll admit we haven't done everything we can.  Increasing our vegetarian and local diet as much as possible is definitely I'd like to work on. One step at a time I suppose!

Greenbelt Walk

Last weekend the weather was a glorious 4 degrees Celsius. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and I could almost imagine cartoon birds singing.

Margot, Glosette Girl, and I decided to take full advantage of the balmy temperature and went for a winter walk - technically, the last winter walk of the winter season.

Ottawa doesn't have mountains or oceans (unfortunately, sigh!) but it does have a good number of walking trails within - or just outside - the city limits. A large number of those trails are in Ottawa's greenbelt, which is a green crescent of forests, fields and farms encircling the original city. While the original idea (that the greenbelt would constrain development and encourage development in Ottawa's core), hasn't quite worked out that way, the greenbelt is still a great easy-access resource.

So on Sunday we moseyed on over to Shirley's Bay, which is the part of the greenbelt in the west of Ottawa.

Technically the trail is supposed to be for cross country skiiers only until April 12th (which tells you something about typical Ottawa's weather!) but the snow was melting fast and we took a chance that the skiiers wouldn't be too grumpy if they saw us.

The trail itself is dead flat and doesn't have much going for it in terms of scenery. But we had fun.

That was probably due to the fact that my Dad-instincts* were on full power and I had the foresight to bring a sled for Margot to sit on.

Mush Dada!

Instead of lil Ms. Grumps...

I think I'm in trouble in 10 years...

...there was lil Ms Sunshine!

...but maybe not!

Whoever invented sleds must have been a parent!

* Small chance it might have been Glosette Girl's instincts.

The Return Home

I had to go on a business trip last week. It was quite a whirlwind tour; just one night in Calgary and back the next day. Calgary is about a 4 and a half hour flight from Ottawa, if one flies directly, or longer if one goes via Toronto (which, unfortunately I did). Not exactly a trip down the street!

Travel, for me, is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it adds spice to my job as it gives me a chance to see parts of Canada I would never otherwise see. Given how huge this country is, and how expensive intra-Canada travel is, that's quite a perk!

On the other hand, travel disrupts my day-to-day routine. Work piles up in my absence. Someone else has to shovel the driveway or drop Margot off at school. The responsibilities of life  continue unabated!

Fortunately, I travel somewhere between 6-8 times a year, which I think is just enough to make it interesting but not enough to wear me down too much.

One aspect of travel that I really enjoy, however, is the reception I get when I come home.  When I pile through the door all ruffled and disheveled, I am greeted by a little mini celebration from Margot and Glosette Girl. Margot is still young enough to be in the "I love you Dada" stage and she isn't shy about telling me.

This time she took it upon herself to write me a card create a "bricolage"(meaning craft in French) of my favourite animal, the Arctic Fox. Margot doesn't do half measures so she attached said fox to a clock and some snacks and hid it under a blanket to present to me at the right time.

Why a clock? Because it's an Arctic Fox of course!

Anyways, the pride and happiness her little face when she showed me her creations was uplifting. That alone made the trip to Calgary worth it.

The Pop In!

People on TV always seem to be popping into places. Friends had the Central Perk coffee shop.  Star Trek: TNG had Ten Forward. Coronation Street has the Rovers Return Inn.

I always wanted to be able to pop into local business to get stuff. Even if it was just for a donut, some milk or a light bulb. It didn't matter that the prices would probably be higher than a big box store in the 'burbs. It just seemed so civilized!

With my new home in Hintonburg, my wish has been granted. The neighbourhood  has local businesses in spades. I've already mentioned Giant Tiger, which is kindof my default get-anything place. But there are other stores too. On our walk to a play last night, Glosette Girl and I popped into a pharmacy to grab some handsoap of all things. We ran out of soap so we went and bought some and nothing else. It was pretty sweet.

In my old house, even the smallest purchase required going for a drive. With traffic lights slowing you down, the absolute minimum amount of time to go there and back was probably 20 minutes but usually longer.  I really hated that drive so I tried to get a lot of stuff whenever I did it. Here it was just an in and out.

The serious business of handsoap selection

(Heh what about the play you ask - sorry, can't use up all my material on one post! Would you ask Charlotte Brontë to tell you in the first chapter if Jane ends up with Mr. Rochester? No! p.s. I'm reading Jane Eyre right now.)

Anyways, it's another reason why I like the Hintonburg area. You can just buy what you need.

The "Your-blogging-about-odd-places-has-a-limit" look

Ahhh $7 handsoap. Worth every penny!

Hintonburg Park

We (sadly) don't have market/restaurant squares in Ottawa, like they do in other parts of the world. So that means parks take on a greater significance as places to gather, relax and play.

The closest park to my house in Hintonburg is (take a guess)...

...Hintonburg Park!

It actually does double duty as the schoolyard for Margot's school and also as a general recreation area.

The park has some quirky features, which is keeping with the character of Hintonburg. Most significantly there is an old stone wall surrounding the yard, which dates back to 1902 when it enclosed a local monastery and church. The monastery is long gone but the church is still here (and is associated with Margot's school).

The park is also conveniently located next to the Hintonburg Community Centre, which has all sorts of local activities and programs.

There are always a few neighbourhood scamps (including my own) running around the play structures, a few watchful parents keeping an eye on the scamps from the sidelines, a hipster passing through, and perhaps a couple sitting on one of the benches soaking up the sunshine.*

Don't fall Margot! The ground is ice solid!

The park is alive.

*Except in the rarest of circumstances the parents and the couple on the bench are NOT the same people. Oh well. Parents, don't worry, it's only a few more years!