#goodbyeottawa

[toknowbeauty]

🏖️ #goodbyeottawa #ottawamemories #myottawa #ottcity . I wish I had seen more of Ottawa's beautiful places. I leave with many regrets ... many adventures planned but not taken ... people/things I wanted to see but couldn't due to #covid19. I am grateful that I had the opportunity to spend time along the beautiful Ottawa River. Wishing I had more time but sadily, I don't. "The mountains are calling and I must go" (John Muir) _________ "We can spend our entire lives in scarcity . . . just waiting for for the other shoe to drop and wondering when it will all fall apart. Or, we can lean into the uncertainty and be thankful for what we have in that precious moment. When I’m standing at the crossroads of fear and gratitude, I’ve learned that I must choose vulnerability and practice gratitude if want to know joy. I’m not sure that it will ever be easy for me, but I have learned to trust this practice. For that, I give thanks!" ― Brené Brown . . . . . . . . . . #ottawariver #petrieisland #naturephotography #naturelovers #exploreottawa #shareyourweather #travelontario #imagesofcanada #comewalkwithme #rivers #blue #bluesky #beach (at Petrie Island) https://www.instagram.com/p/CCnxbUgJJxs/?igshid=1lncofceszfvl

[toknowbeauty]

🚶🏽‍♀️ #goodbyeottawa #walkamoungthemarys #myottawa #ottcity . One of the distinguishing features of the neighborhood through which I walked regularly as part of #covidcoping were these statues of the Mary placed outside of people's homes. Some are quite elaborate with lighting and flowers. However, I was most excited to see a couple of Marys with dark complexions (a welcome departure of the much more common light complexion variety) coincidentally right around the #blacklivesmatter #blm protests. ______ "It doesn't interest me if there is one God or many gods. I want to know if you belong or feel abandoned. If you know despair or can see it in others. I want to know if you are prepared to live in the world with its harsh need to change you. If you can look back with firm eyes saying this is where I stand. I want to know if you know how to melt into that fierce heat of living falling toward the center of your longing. I want to know if you are willing to live, day by day, with the consequence of love and the bitter unwanted passion of your sure defeat. I have heard, in that fierce embrace, even the gods speak of God." — David Whyte . . . . . . #ottawamemories #ottawa #exploreottawa #statues #mary #virginmary #outwalking #comewalkwithme (at Orleans, Ontario) https://www.instagram.com/p/CCmNBZfJ-Tf/?igshid=ghr68750x4n9

[toknowbeauty]

🚶🏽‍♀️ #goodbyeottawa #myottawa #ottcity . Despite living in a city famous for its monuments, museums, and tourist attractions ... my favorite place to visit was the #kindnessrockgarden during my #covidcoping walks ... ______ “It's a good thing to have all the props pulled out from under us occasionally. It gives us some sense of what is rock under our feet, and what is sand.” ― Madeleine L'Engle . . . . . . . #paintedrocks #rockgarden #outwalking #comewalkwithme #ottawa #exploreottawa #themountainsarecalling #inspiration #leavingottawa https://www.instagram.com/p/CCl8R2TJ92P/?igshid=hfcwrg70uz8k

[toknowbeauty]

🛫 #goodbyeottawa #calgary #flyyyc . This is the last photo I took of Calgary when I left 5-months ago. It was winter. Our plane had just been de-iced and we were preparing to be carried off into an unknown future. This photo carries with it a lot of emotion for me. I remember bring really worried about the cats who were stowed away in the cargo. Calgary had been our home for many years (in my case, 17-years) and this was a huge change for us. It was heartbreaking to say goodbye 💔. . Sometimes things do not work out as we plan. A few short weeks after moving to Ottawa, the country would be placed in lockdown as a vicious #coronavirus emerged and a global pandemic surged? Being in a new city and starting new job during #coronaapocalypse was not easy. It was hard being confined within the walls of my tiny apartment in Ottawa far away from people/places that feel like home. In that sense, it has been an exceptionally cruel and difficult year -- with much turmoil, pain, and fear -- a great test of our individual and collective forbearance. . I am leaving Ottawa and returning to Calgary in a few days. I am sad that I never really got to see or experience this city in a real way. I missed out on a lot when #Covid shut down almost everything and placed heavy restrictions on how we socialize. I truly regret that I wasn't able to get to know the city and the people better and that I am leaving having experienced very little of what Ottawa has to offer. . Moving back to Calgary feels like what I need to do for many reasons. The world is still a very uncertain and scary place. The Calgary I left behind will not be the same one I return to. I am not sure what the future holds for me and find myself, yet again making a leap of faith into the great unknown ... hoping that this time I will find "something solid to stand on" or that I will be "taught how to fly" (Edward Teller). #goinghome _________ "We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time." — T. S. Eliot . . . . . . #capturecalgary #calgaryairport #travelphotography #westjet #loveyyc #airplane #travel #calgaryalberta (at YYC Calgary International Airport) https://www.instagram.com/p/CCijxpzJYeC/?igshid=g03ghxqjujgi