A week later, to the day, we took another drive along the Western Parkway to downtown Ottawa and from there on to the Eastern Parkway to reach our final destination. Plenty to see along the way, if the observer is a lover of nature.

The contrast between the natural precincts administered by the National Capital Commission in honour of the beloved greenspace of this capital city, maintained as a treasure on behalf of the nation and for, dare we hope, posterity -- and the crumbling old stone buildings many of which are currently undergoing extensive renovations to ensure their continued longevity, provide a fascinating contrast in aesthetics.

No one could conceivably be bored during that pilgrimage, and nor was I, finding more than ample subjects for photographing what took my admiring fancy.

When night left on its silent journey early this morning, instead of a clear sky with a brightly illuminating sun triumphing as might have been expected after a night of winking stars on full awesome display, there was a hugely enveloping, densely opaque yet oddly evanescent ice fog to meet our eyes. That fog of icy moisture left in its wake all growing things slathered in a coating of hoar frost, and if there is any heavenly artist more skilled in transforming a natural environment from one of beauty to one of transcendent loveliness, I've yet to hear of it.

As a result of the early and lingering extremely cold temperatures we've been groaning under, the Ottawa River has begun to freeze over. In those areas where ice has not yet gripped the waters, under the heavily-laden sky the river looked thunderously black and roiled. A more dramatic sight would be hard to imagine. This day's unfolding of scenery from one area to another provided an overload of aesthetic pleasure; no need to exercise one's imagination.