Spaces of Wonder

While celebrating our 11th anniversary, I stumbled across an amazing space. It has been almost a decade since I visited the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum. As a result, I had no idea this space existed: The Royal Canadian Air Force memorial, located inside the main hall of the museum. Originally at the museum for a biplane tour of the Gatineau Hills, Laura and I had just finished wandering around viewing the exhibits that caught our eye, when I noticed a curved wall ending with a glimpse into a silver walled space.

As very few people seemed to know about the space, I was able to spend a mostly interruption free half-hour soaking up the peaceful space. The memorial also has meaning for me as my dad had served in the RCAF until he passed away. I’ve only encountered two other places (so far), that had the same feeling of serenity: early morning at Pulguksa (or Bulguska) Temple in South Korea and a drizzly spring afternoon on Parker Ridge in Banff National Park. I’ve been in wilderness and lots of places, and while they can be empty, peaceful, remote, quite, contemplative and more, they often lack simplicity.

I had taken along my ultra wide angle lens which fit the space perfectly as you can see in these images.

I would recommend a visit to see and feel this space and craft some memorable abstracts and architecture imagery. While there, you can discover much of Canada’s aviation history for free: the only fees are for tours of the displays. Go for the biplane ride: flying in the 70 year old craft, you’ll get a sense of adventure from a long gone era in aviation.