Happy Thanksgiving, Ottawa

What do I have in common with Prime Ministerial candidates Stephen Harper, Stephan Dion, Jack Layton and Elizabeth May? Absolutely nothing, as opposed to them, I spent thanksgiving weekend in Ottawa.

Suz and I were visiting her CBC reporter sister who lives about 2 blocks from Parliament hill with her super sweet kitty who enjoys scratching her own face and long walks on the beach.

I spent lots of time checking out the gothic Parliament buildings and beautifully manicured surroundings for the first time since somewhere around the time my armpits started needing their own manicuring.

While enjoying the amazing fall colours, I also took the opportunity to enjoy the Halloween aspects of the main building, namely the gargoyles. The gothic 'goyles jut out from the base of the clock on the Peace Tower. If they were functional (and I do not know if they are) they would likely spew water runoff collected from the steep roof. The copper roof is probably a huge bonus. I suspect even the most experienced steep-pitch roofers would probably balk at that particular roofing job, but not without taking a non-refundable 25% deposit first, of course.

But the architecture wasn't the only beautiful thing on Parliament hill this weekend. Flocks of photographers and tourists flooding the area also found the river views, the autumn trees, and the shithead statuary spectacular.

With such amazing scenery and architecture distracting Canada's leader, it is a wonder anything ever, uh, gets done on, um... Parliament hill. Right.