A Lunchtime Walk

We had a grey drizzly day in Ottawa-Hull today, but it was still relatively warm (about 8 degrees C). One of my colleagues suggested we go for a walk at lunchtime. Oddly enough, I had recently read an article about how sitting too much is killing us (I sit in front of a computer 7.5 hours a day) so I thought, what a great idea! We decided to walk on a path along the river. To get to the river, we had to follow another path that crosses through some industrial land.  

There are lots of pipes and other industrial structures along this path. The pipes are for some sort of gases, and they were constantly making "psshhhing" noises. Very 19th-century industrial revolution feeling! There were lots of other people on the path, some walking, some bicycling, some running, like this man, in just shorts and a light jacket. Amazing for December 5th. 

Walking under the bridge, I was impressed by all the graffiti. Most of it was just random letters and blobs and blurs, but this piece of graffiti was quite distinct. I wondered, what is "RASEK"? A name? An acronym? A secret code?  

As we got close to the river, we saw this sculpture along the pathway. Alas, I didn't get the name of the sculptor or the title of the work. But I thought it was rather interesting. 

So I had to go around back and stick my hands through the slots. My colleague, Mark, decided that he should take a picture of me.  

Then he came in closer and took another shot. I look like someone trying to escape.  

Finally, we got to the path along the river. It was quite pretty in the drizzly mist. You can see the Parliament buildings looming up across the river further down. 

The river and the rocks and the scenery were softened by the greyness. Across the river, you can just make out the Supreme Court building - looking like a white castle just to the left of centre of the picture.  

The walk back was much prettier than the walk through the industrial pipes and stuff. 

Then we had to go back to work. Sigh!