Deer in the 'hood

There is a very large field behind my house that has become a sort of wildlife refuge in the middle of the city. The area used to be part of the Rockliffe Air Force base, but that was abandoned by the military a decade ago. Over the years the houses have been torn down and now there is nothing but a few street lights left standing.

Spotted from my balcony

There are of course lots of squirrels running about, but those are everywhere. Over the past few days I have been seeing some deer in the field behind my house. This is quite remarkable because although Ottawa doesn't have many large industrial zones, it is still a pretty big city.

This morning I counted five deer munching on the tall grass that pokes up through the snow. I am fortunate to be able to live in a place where I can drive to downtown in ten minutes, yet also look out my kitchen window and see so much wildlife.

Back in the Great White North

We flew back to Canada on December 23rd. First a hop to Frankfurt, then 9 hours to Ottawa.

Halfway through the flight I awoke from a nap and looked out the window. We were flying over Labrador and northern Quebec. Endless small lakes and evergreen trees as far as the eye could see (and from 36000 feet, the eye can see a long way). All covered in snow and without a single road, light, or dwelling. A few hours later we were still over the same vast forest and nameless lakes.

Amazingly, this is not the arctic, as it's all south of the 60th latitude. It's just what most of Canada looks like, and the main reason why we stay huddled in a few cities next to the U.S. border. A fantastically desolate place that was really awe-inspiring.

ahh...home

Little Arianne was a real trouper and spent lots of time crawling on the floor (when not crying). The landing involved a big bump and she thought that was lots of fun. Although the temperature in Ottawa was forecast to be the same as it was in Berlin on our last day, by the time we emerged from the airport it had dropped to -17°C. Oh yeah: that feels more like it.

The next few days were a whirlwind of Christmas dinners and conversations. It is strange how un-strange everything felt. My house did not burn to the ground while we were away and everything is where I left it. My putty-cat is still soft and friendly. Many "welcome back" greetings from the neighbours and here I am one week later exactly where I was a year ago. As if all that time in Germany was simply a little vacation. Life goes by quicky: a year here, a year there. Time ticks away, but hopefully the friendships and positive experiences will stay with me.

In summary, our voyage back went by without any problems and all is well. I hope my new friends will visit so we can go and find out what the heck is up there amid all those trees.