I have lived in and love Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is the Captial of Canada, rather conservative but has grown up rather nicely. Each time I visit my daughter and son-in-law, I or we visit Parliament Hill not to see the seat of Government but to visit the "Cats of Parliament Hill"
There is a story that Colonel By brought hundreds of cats with him when he built the Rideau Canal in 1826, to take care of the rodent population, but 
While formally intended for the cats, the effort also benefits countless raccoons, groundhogs and squirrels who partake in the cats' benefits. Since 2005 a support team of five volunteers has been established to help René with the maintenance of the colony.
There is also a blog dedicated to the The Cats on Parliament Hill with lots of great photos and updates. 
The Hecate is shallow, 80 to 300 ft.(24 to 92 m.) with a sandbar bottom and twice daily tides of up to 24 ft (7.4 m.) flooding and ebbing from the north and the south. A 'southeaster' can start like the flip of the switch and the strait is in chaos almost immediately. The winds blew all night Friday and were still blowing Saturday morning when we took our first walk on the beach. The walk did not last long, when you walked into the wind it was like an exfoliation treatment and it hurt!
The sea is beautiful when she is in chaos and you are on shore!
Second walk of the day, the winds were still blowing but the sky was starting to clear.
There was no rain with this storm but the winds were so strong that they blew the tops off waves and created a shore line mist. The sky was getting lighter.
The gulls were in their glory on the wind.
We walked with our back to the wind on the beach and retreated to the dunes and tree line for the walk home. As you can see the trees are anchored to cope with the Southeaster.
After super the winds settled and our third walk was more pleasureable. The sea and sky were still in chaos.
The clouds streaked across the sky as if chasing the winds.
And everytime you looked up the colours were more striking and dramatic.
As the skies cleared to the east the sea reflected its beauty.
To the north the chaos was settling. These photographs were taken all on the same day on the same beach.
In the culture of the Pacific Northwest a totem pole is raised to celebrate a chieftanship, marriage, death, important event or to identify who lives where. The Haida totem poles are legendary and can be found in many private and public collections and museums around the world. The art of pole carving nearly died out with the decimation of the First nations cultures from smallpox, influenza, church and government. In the Haida Nation it was Bill Reid who started the rebirth of this almost lost art and mentored others. Today there is a strong and vibrant resurgance of these beautiful poles. 
Today we were invited to witness the raising of a pole dedicated to "Communities Working Together" to build the newly opened Haida Gwaii Hospital on north Haida Gwaii. The old 4 bed army hospital no longer supported the community needs, however there was no money in the public coffers to build a new one...so the communities took it upon themselves to find the money through provincial, federal, municipal and foundations grants to build the infrastructure and then leased the building back to Northern Health. This pole is dedicated to the community spirit that saw this happen.
The Haida Village of Old Masset commissioned the pole and then contracted the carver. The story of what the pole represents is told to the carver and then he sets out to design and carve the pole with the help of other carvers and in this case apprentices. The right cedar tree must be found, which is becoming more and more difficult with industrial logging. The tree is cut down and prepared for the carver...it is blessed with eagle down, peeled, cut to size, in this case 60 feet and split to hollow out the back. This prevents the likelihood of the pole splitting as it dries. The pole is carved and painted... never on time and always over "budget"! It is not uncommon for a pole to be raised with the paint still wet!
It is truly an amazing sight to witness a pole being raised. It is a precision exercise and can easily be toppled if someone is not paying attention. Once up, it must be leveled(front to back and side to side) and straightened to the carver's satisfaction.
Today as the pole was being twisted so that is was facing straight out to sea the base of the pole cracked as the pole slipped off a rock in the hole and dropped several inches....we all held our breath!
You can see the crack at the base of the pole which was bound by rope above and around the split until rocks, sand and gravel where filled in to secure the pole. Everyone is encouraged to help throw in the rocks and shovel the sand.
Once filled in the pole will never come down. It will decay before it is blown down.
When the pole is secure, climbers will go up the pole and untie the ropes. The pole stands facing the sea in a u-shaped court yard in front of the hospital. The grounds will be landscaped with indigenous vegetation and benches for staff, residents and visitors to enjoy. 
The carver, Christian White(in white t shirt) and his family. 
The Great Hall of the National Gallery of Canada looking towards the Library of Parliment in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
The National Gallery of Canada and Ottawa River from Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
For more great photos go to Scenic Sunday.
