I took a drive in the country on Saturday, from Port Elmsley to the Rideau River in southern Ottawa. En route we crossed 416, passed farms and woodlots and admired the cloudy skies. Rain was intermittent like my windshield washers. Wind gusted, tossing leaves against my window. Some caught in my wiper blades. Despite the autumnal description it was a summer’s day because the humidity kept the temperature feeling like 30C.

The weather broke about five o’clock, when we began the return journey. The clouds were streaked by sunshine. Where blue shone through, it was intense. The trees cast saw five o’clock shadows. A cultivated field of something green undulated like an ocean surface of vivid green. Hawks circled above. The orange and yellow leaves that some trees sported glowed. We were 30 minutes from Canada’s national capital, yet you would never have known – with the exception of the bilingual traffic signs once were within the city limits.

Next time you are in the NCR, seek out Rogers Stevens Drive, aka Lanark County Road 4.  When you head to the Maple Syrup Capital of Canada try the backroad.