While wandering around Ottawa on foot, we stumbled upon the National Gallery of Canada across the street from Ottawa’s Notre Dame Cathedral on our first day in town two days ago. We noticed there were long lines to enter and was wondering what interesting exhibits might be attracting such a diverse crowd. As Chris suspected, it was a free night: every Thursday night between the hours of 5-8pm, all national museums in Ottawa grant free admission for all. So, we got to enter the museum for free and enjoy music, drink, and an art-making session. There was an open airy space in the gallery where you could sit, drink, people watch, and grab some black paper and a tray of crayons, and just draw. I originally grabbed the paper and crayons for Kaia. Sadly, she lasted about one minute before she grew bored and just wanted to run around and wreck everything. So instead, I ended up using the crayons myself and drawing some different flowers and butterflies. And although I didn’t do it for very long, I actually enjoyed it a lot and found it quite freeing. It was like my mind was unloading all of the crap I had on it from San Francisco the previous week. It reminded me of the trend a number of years ago around adult coloring books: these types of mindless doodling and coloring activities can be a form of therapy. They are soothing, relaxing, and enjoyable to do.

We just ordered Kaia a couple new crayon boxes for her new school’s supplies list that was just shared. Who knows – I might end up “borrowing” some of her crayons for my own art projects in the near future.