Autumn in Almonte
From chaos to calm
Autumn in Almonte is truly something to look forward to. We moved to this beautiful small town just west of Ottawa a couple of years ago. It is picturesquely built on the banks of the mighty Mississippi (no relation to the US river), replete with several sets of waterfalls. The coloured leaves this year on the Riverwalk have been breathtaking. But then—Road Reconstruction.
I don’t remember on what day it started, but I do know what time it was. We were jolted awake at 6 am with the racket of huge industrial jackhammers right under our bedroom window. By autumn the whole road had been ripped open, while new gas, water, and sewer lines were built.
An idyllic town no longer! The centrepiece of Almonte is the statue of James Naismith, the inventor of basketball who grew up here. Eventually, the construction crews helped him feel part of the action.
The burly construction guys even cut reverentially around the statue, leaving poor James intact, but also an island.
Sometime during the construction, we had a baby—a huge baby Saint Bernard named Finnegan (after Mr. Dressup’s puppet). Isn’t he cute?
Cute but more than a bit demanding. And bitey. And zoomy. And barky. At first, he was a wee too rambunctious for Molesley, our older arthritic dog, but they eventually became friends. Ever the accommodating older brother, Molesley even let Finnegan sit on him so he could see out the car window.
Out of the chaos beamed little moments of light. The boys were going for an afternoon walk one day when Finnegan suddenly discovered James.
Before we knew it Canadian Thanksgiving was upon us (second Monday in October) and we began to horde delicious things.
Still, through all the construction noise and doggy chaos, we still had exquisite autumn sunrises.
