Rideau Canal memories

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Rideau canal locks begin in  Ottawa; Photo source: Pixabay

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Towering stone walls,

rocking boat, water rising

lock gates swing open.

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Rideau Canal in Ottawa winter; Photo source: Wikimedia

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Endless skating rink,

cycle path companion,

the Rideau Canal.

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Cycle path along the Rideau Canal in Ottawa:  By C-A C. (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

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My memories of the Rideau Canal: boat trips through locks with my father, skating in winter, and cycling in summer.  The canal is a 202 km waterway, consisting of rivers and lakes connected by man made canals and locks.  It extends from my childhood home, Ottawa on the Ottawa River (Canada), to Kingston on Lake Ontario—I live 20 minutes away from Kingston today.

If you are unfamiliar with how locks work you might want to check out this Rideau Canal info, including an animated illustration.

Not only is the Rideau Canal part of my roots, it is recognized as a Canadian Heritage River and as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  It opened in 1832 and has been running ever since, making it the oldest continuously operating canal system in North America.

Haiku Hub Badge copyright TJ Paris 2016My haiku memories of the Rideau Canal were inspired by Ritu of But I Smile Anyway, host of the first Haiku Hub Floating Challenge: ‘Heritage’.   Everyone is invited to participate.  Please find out how to join in at her site linked above.

haiku: ©2016 all rights reserved by ontheland.wordpress.com

Published by Janice

My name is Janice.  I started blogging as Ontheland when I moved from Toronto to a rural area near Kingston, Ontario in Canada.  Over time I have found myself writing poetry, mostly in Japanese forms, such as haiku and haibun.  One of my deepest interests is the natural world: the joy of it and how we can look after it better.

23 thoughts on “Rideau Canal memories”

    1. Cycling along the Rideau Canal and beside the Ottawa River are among my favourite teen memories. If we had iPhones back then I’d probably have photos 🙂

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    1. If you go in winter, you would have to try it out (if you skate). It’s like going for a hike on skates. You can travel on and on instead of going around and around on a rink.

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  7. I was just there last month and enjoyed the Rideau Canal Sunset Cruise. The biking/walking pathway along both sides of the canal was amazing to see, unique only to Ottawa. Loved your personal tribute to this beautiful Canadian heritage. 🙂

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  10. Pingback: Haiku Hub Floating Challenge #1 – Heritage – A Round Up! | But I Smile Anyway...

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