Southern Ontario’s National Parks

 Southern Ontario’s National Parks  By: N. Glenn Perret  232 pages • ISBN 978-1554553976 “Here in Southern Ontario we are also blessed with six spectacular national parks” says author N. Glenn Perret. “Unfortunately, most of us are not aware of just how lucky we are to have so many national parks

Explore the Best of Ottawa’s Outdoors this Summer

 Explore the best of Ottawa this summer by cycling through the Gatineau Hills to hiking up the Eardley Escarpment. Ottawa is not only a government city but, one full of nature and hidden gems. Celebrate the best of Ottawa, this summer, through exploring the city by bike, to hiking through

Butterflies Take Flight at the Canadian Museum of Nature

 Photos by Kat Walcott / Feature image Pixabay Though temperatures in Ottawa have been frigid over the past few days, the Canadian Museum of Nature is keeping things hot and tropical with their stunning new exhibit “Butterflies in Flight.” It is definitely one you and your family do not want

Canadian artist Patrick John Mills: an expressionist and abstract painter

 Photos courtesy of Patrick John Mills Canadian artist Patrick John Mills is considered an expressionist and also abstract painter. His artwork has been shown in selected exhibitions in cities that evoke art and sophistication such as London, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Frankfurt, Montreal and, of course, Ottawa. “Obsessed, intense, creative and also

Tree-mendous Tremblant!

 Photos by Andre Gagne and provided by Les Refuges Perchés, Scandinave Spa and Casino Mont-Tremblant When I was ten I wanted a tree house. I mean, hey, who didn’t when they were ten? The idea was a simple one. I’d build it atop the old tree in our backyard, the one

Hendrick Farm: A One-of-a-Kind Community, Minutes from Downtown Ottawa

 Founded on the principle “that a vibrant community is one that listens to its cultural, historical and natural environment,” Hendrick Farm is changing the way communities are shaped with its new townhomes and single family homes in Old Chelsea. There, developers and homeowners agree that the best way to protect

Colorado: Peace Among the Peaks 

 A resting place overlooking the Mount Princeton Hot Springs. All photos by Eric Murphy. Halfway up a mountain looking over Boulder, Colorado I found a narrow rocky trail that split away from the well-worn hiking path. The trail ran alongside a steep, watery drop and arced upwards, disappearing into the

A Portrait of Canada

 Canada is a place of boundless natural beauty, and part of being Canadian means appreciating the natural wonders of where we live. Few understand this better than Leah Pipe, the BC-based artist who pens the awe-inspiring beauty of the Skeena Watershed area in Northern British Colombia. Beautifully arresting, rivetingly detailed and quietly absorbing, Pipe’s

Power in Her Blood: The Buffy Sainte-Marie Interview Part 1

 Photos supplied by TD Ottawa Jazz Festival and artist. Buffy Sainte-Marie doesn’t believe in burning out. It’s been 50 years blazing down the road and there’s still a fiery power rushing in her blood. It courses through her veins as a drive to create, to change and to challenge. “I'm paying attention,

January 15th to 17th

 Here at Ottawa Life we are always looking out for great things to do on a weekend! Check out some of the events that are happening right here in our city this weekend. TD Place Stadium, Ottawa 67’s vs. Niagara IceDogs - Jan.15th (7:00pm) This Friday, come support your local OHL

Beauty Roundup: Summer Camping

 Photo: Jeremy Ricketts It’s mid-summer and camping season is in full swing. Finally, you get to enjoy some reception-free downtime with the family and reconnect with nature. You don’t want to forget a thing, so you take out your packing list from last year (wow, I am so organized!). Tent

Will climate refugees in Canada finally spur action on climate change?

 Photo Credit: Eric Wüstenhagen Ryan Meili and Mahli Brindamour A young child arrives at the hospital emergency room in respiratory distress, his asthma worsened by smoke exposure. An elder has uncontrolled blood pressure because there wasn't time to get her medications when the evacuation orders came through. Scabies and other illnesses related

Nine Steps to a Healthier You!

 Martine, 44, works for Statistics Canada. She is married with two children, Samantha, 13, and Gordon, 11. Both play high-level soccer, which means that both she and her husband Graham are kept extremely busy ferrying them both to practice sessions and games. This combined with a demanding job and shouldering

Margaret Chwialkowska Illustrates Reflection in Annex Gallery Exhibit

 All photos by David Barbour  Ottawa-based artist Margaret Chwialkowska’s solo exhibition, “The Illusion of Reality,” brings a marvelous must-see energy to the Ottawa Art Gallery’s Annex Gallery at Ottawa City Hall. In this collection, Chwialkowska delves into the theme of reflection. Her work explores the evolving natural landscapes and the mind

Gratitude

 I offer my gratitude To everything on earth That’s as sweet to the eye As glistening cherry blossoms Under a clear blue sky To the early morning light At the dawn of day To the dew that washes A flowers wrinkles away To the sound of thunder And the rain’s

A Summer’s Fair

 On summer days the summer’s rays Embark on slips of clover And the cottage receives the shadowy leaves From fruit blossoming trees all over The white clouds above in a rhapsody of love Rise up like a new found romance As robins sing the orchards swing And bluebells launch into

Apple Picking Season

 The falling rain Slowly starts to gain On the colored leaves Dangling in the trees It’s autumn in the country As insects flee nature’s bounty For Jack Frost will waste them too Before the night is through The leaves desert the trees Submitting to the breeze And begin their journey

Take Time for Truth

 By Professor Richard Feist. In his sonnets, Shakespeare pines over the sad fact that the great monuments we build in brass and stone—even the world’s boundless sea—are helpless before the onslaught of time. Time’s terrible hand will “blunt the lion’s paws” and “pluck the keen teeth from the fierce tiger’s

All Trees Must Relent

 I hear the autumn breeze Whispering softly to the trees Let go, let go, let go of your leaves Not yet, not yet reply the trees Our leaves are too beautiful to die Even if the time is nigh But die, but die they must Said the breeze with a

The Sugar Shack

 March has come at last For beneath the snowy creek I can hear the water running fast Breaking the ice like panes of glass Little pockets form at first Until a mighty torrent bursts Not far from here In the distance we can see An old weathered hut built long

The Natural Way: Native Artist Peter Bighetty

 For native artist Peter Bighetty, art begins with a memory. Hailing from Nelson House, Manitoba, Bighetty’s family is originally from Pukatawagan Cree Nation. “Growing up, I was always fishing, trapping, and hunting, out and about in the wilderness. That’s where I get the ideas for most of my paintings,” Bighetty

March Break at the Canadian Museum of Nature

 Photo credit: © C.W. Clark  Trying to put together a fun list of family-friendly activities for you and the kids over March break? Look no further than the Canadian Museum of Nature! They have a schedule jam-packed with hands-on learning, exhibitions and some on-screen entertainment. A few highlights include: Arctic

Jeremy Harder: The Art of Dynamic Doodling

 Photo courtesy of Jeremy Harder For as long as he can remember, Jeremy Harder loved to draw. By the age of five, he was already receiving praise from family and friends for his talent. By the time he reached high school, Harder was constantly filling notebooks with doodles and designs.

Take a Trip with Alice Through the Looking-Glass

 It is often debated whether or not author Lewis Carroll was under the influence of some kind of narcotic when he created Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking-Glass. It is completely understandable to ponder the question as the stories are wacky, out-of-this-world, fantastical and outrageous.  They are equally

Art Exhibit Showcases Grandeur of Local Environment

 Inspired by nature, award-winning Ottawa artist Margaret Chwialkowska will be featuring her solo exhibition “Gatineau Sublime” at the Galerie Old Chelsea from December 4 to December 31. Ever since Chwialkowska moved to Canada from Poland in 1979, she has been overwhelmed by the natural beauty of North American landscapes. Capturing the magic