Our first stop was the new Canadian War Museum. What impressed me the most, was the care taken to present the human tendancy towards war from many angles. Naturally, I gravitated towards the displays discussing the perspective from the home front.
(Click on the pictures for a larger view)
This display was particularly thought-provoking. I can remember my Great-Aunt Eileen talking about rationing of meat and milk during WWII. How times have changed. Perhaps I'm overly sensitive, but the fact that my adopted country is engaged in wars on two different fronts doesn't seem to affect the day-to-day lives of most people. Apart from the ubiquitous and (to my way of thinking) meaningless yellow "support the troops" magnets on the equally ubiquitous SUV's, the wars just don't seem to weigh heavily on the nation's conscience, let alone call for any sacrifice. The conflicts later evaporated from my own mind as we enjoyed dinner at Darcy McGee's, a fine Irish pub just steps away from the Parliament Buildings. I am fully aware of my own hypocrisy, thankyouverymuch.
On a separate but not wholly unrelated note, there was a gaggle of super-achieving Air Cadets at the War Museum while we were there. This particular group had converged upon Ottawa for their initial briefing before departing for all corners for the world as part of the International Air Cadet Exchange program. I was fortunate enough to visit Washington DC and Florida as part of this program (mumble mumble) years ago. While talking with one of the cadets, I realized that he wasn't even born when I went on Exchange. How the hell did I get so old????
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