Ottawa is an exceptionally beautiful city and though I've lived here for ten years now, I never get tired of its landscapes. It's difficult not to stand in its presence and be inspired. One of the rare things about Ottawa is that the main 400 series highway (aka. the Queensway) coming from Toronto runs directly through the middle of downtown. While you drive yourself to or from, you are literally overlooking the core of the city. Since we also have the very rare situation of not having any kind of train system within the city, the Queensway in many ways divides the city or, for lack of a better expression, becomes the "tracks".

As the age old expression goes, Ottawa, like any other city, has its "wrong side of the tracks". Given the rate in which our city is growing, our questionable neighborhoods tend to vary at an overwhelming pace as the population moves in various directions. Regardless of the prosperity Ottawa sees in the coming years though, the Queensway will always maintain its role as the great divide. Literally, no more than three blocks seperate the rough and tough streets of Centretown from the million dollar homes of the Glebe and the Golden Triangle.

A few days ago, I was out for a walk in the beautiful autumn air and as I crossed under the Queensway heading towards the River, I began to think about some of the landmarks that divide our life. In the same manner that cities and neighborhoods often have a line drawn in the sand, so too do the moments and seasons of our own evolution. With this question mark in the forefront of my mind, I found myself drawn to the new pedestrian bridge over the canal connecting the Golden Triangle to the University of Ottawa campus. Standing there, watching the sun set behind the Chateau Laurier and the Parliament Buildings, I realized that where I was standing, the Rideau Canal, was the metaphorical train tracks of my adult life!!

The intial proposal for the Rideau Canal came just after the war of 1812 when there was still a threat of the United States attacking Britain's Colony of Upper Canada. The 202 kilometre waterway was to include 19 kilometres of man-made route and a total of 47 locks at 24 stations along the canal. By using the the Rideau Canal and the Ottawa River to connect Montreal to Kingston, it avoided having to use the St. Lawrence River and leaving the British vulnerable along the border of New York State.

The Rideau Canal was built by thousands of Irish and French-Canadian labourers, many of whom ended up dying from malaria and various other diseases. Construction of the canal was eventually completed in 1832 but, since there were no further military conflicts between Canada and the U.S., the canal never ended up being used for its original purpose. But, it did make one hell of a skating rink!!!

The canal is now the oldest continuously operated canal system in North America, home to the largest skating rink in the world (stretching 7.8 kilometres) and just this year, it was registered as an official UNESCO World Heritage Site. For all its fame and glory though, even more importantly, the Rideau canal is essentially the no man's land between my two most significant lives...my single life and my married life!!

The University of Ottawa campus is located right along the East side of the canal and that's exactly where I found myself in the Fall of 1997 when I first moved into Residence! For the numerous years that followed, I remained no more than four or five blocks from campus in the student neighborhood known as Sandy Hill. While boyfriends came and went during that time, I was finding my place in the world, on my own, when I lived there. Heartbreak, countless roommates, too many jobs, too little money and identity crises a plenty basically defined my years on the East side of the canal. Albeit a challenge at times, I have tremendous memories of it that never fail to make me smile. There are few times in life like that of leaving home and surviving on your own. At times, it was just that...surviving. With time though, it started to look a bit more like thriving until eventually, I opened my eyes one day and found that I had built a life for myself.

Four years ago, Steve and I moved in together. We found the most amazing apartment that we fell in love with instantly...but, it was on the other side of the canal!! I had never lived there before and while I had heard stories about life "over there", it was hard to know what was real and what was simply an urban legend (is it true that they only eat granola over there?!?!). The one thing that I did know to be true though, was that adults lived over there and somehow, this meant that I had become one of them!!!

Sure enough, the transition wasn't so bad!! We blended in just fine and have loved life among the responsible people! I'm not sure if it's something in the water or not but, it seems that as soon as we moved there, the road to adulthood progressed at lightning speed! Three months after signing our lease we got engaged...thirteen months later, we got married...and two years after that, we bought our first house. Beware of life on the other side...growing up soon follows!!

I've enjoyed reflecting on this transition in my life because this past week, Steve was away in North Carolina and for the first time in a long while, I've been left to experience life on my own again. It was amusing to see how quickly some of my signature single behaviour came back to me!!! My eating habits changed, I became a slave to Harry Potter and just like that, the night hawk in me came back to life (which also means that I was late for work almost every day!!). By late Wednesday night, when my handsome other half landed at the airport, I realized that he is not just my husband...but also my voice of reason!! Yes, it's true that 7am is a lot less painful when you go to bed at 10:30pm instead of 2:30am (something I did twice while he was gone!!) and it's amazing what comes from eating more than just peanut butter for days on end!!!

As I was standing there on the bridge overlooking over the canal, with my past in one direction and my future in the other...I couldnt' help but smile because I had no idea back then just how long a walk it was really going to be to the other side. So long in fact, that you're a completely different person by the time you get there. I love that I can go and visit my old life whenever I want to. I love that a beautiful new bridge was built to make the journey easier than it was the first time I came over. What I love most of all though is that when I'm finished looking enjoying the view, I can simply click my heels, turn around and walk back to my husband and life on other side..right where I belong!!!

But just to be safe though...I'm always sure to throw a coin in no man's land for good luck before I go!!