Village Lights

© Joan Anderson

Upper Canada Village was alight with holiday spirit as it celebrated the Christmas and New seasons. It was absolutely brilliant. Buildings, trees, fences, and even horse carriages were strung with lights and the village was literally glowing. Kids of all ages were there to walk the streets and see the lights, buy freshly baked bread, take a ride in a horse drawn carriage, and perhaps strap on their skates for a turn around the ice.

With two fellow photographers, Claus Vogel and Hans Blohm, I slowly worked my way around the streets, stopping every few meters to set up tripod and capture more images. As we walked, snow fell gently, sometimes clouding our lenses, but there were just too many photo opportunities to ignore. With a quick dusting off of the camera and lenses we kept to our task until our hands were too cold to continue.

If you didn't make it to the village this year you missed a wonderful experience, but don't fret... just put it at the top of your list of 'things to do next season'.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

© Joan Anderson

© Joan Anderson

© Joan Anderson

Wishing you all a very happy and prosperous new year.

At the stroke of midnight, Ottawa officially turned 150 years old, so this year's display was an extra special event. Watching the show from the Museum of Civilization provided the best view in town and a great opportunity to snap some photos. Not only was it a great spectacle, but the weather was exceptionally mild too. The bone numbing cold experienced many times in the past was far from our minds as we waited with thousands of spectators on the museum grounds. The fireworks did not disappoint.