The way home

There are places in the world that feel like home, even though
you've never lived there. My mother's house in Ottawa is one
of those places -- a converted cottage, originally on a street of modest
summer homes, now prime real estate, it's across the Ottawa River
from Aylmer. The house is unremarkable, but the view is something else -- spectacular at almost any time of year, as places on water tend to be. I talked to someone last year who had moved
to Toronto from a house on a lake north of the city. Of course
we have Lake Ontario here, but her family doesn't live by the lake,
and she keenly missed the water view. My mother has that.
The Gatineau hills stretch away on the other side of the river, blue
in most light, and in summer my mom is cheered by the sight of
sailboats from the local yacht club racing .

I was in university when my parents moved to Ottawa. So I only
lived in the house in the summer between semesters. After
university I stayed on in Guelph for awhile, then moved to
various towns before settling in Toronto. But Ottawa, and in
particular my mother's acreage, will always hold a special place
in my heart.

Have a sailing for home day.