Highway 7 and Ferguson Falls Road

An occasional traveller along Highway 7, between highways 417 and 37, I am privileged to see the landscapes, towns, and rural establishments in all seasons.

The route crosses the Mississippi and Fall Rivers twice each, offers picnic pull offs in the warmer weather, and provides a scenic, and yet speedy, alternative to the 416/401 route from Ottawa to Toronto.

Southwest of Carleton Place, there is a brick church with a turret that, at first glance, houses two congregations. It was built in 1912 by the congregation of St. John’s Anglican Church, Innisville.¹ Due to dwindling numbers, the congregation was disestablished by the Anglican Church in December 2023 but the building continues to host St Porphyrios Eastern Orthodox Church² with whom St. John’s has shared space for several years.

Across from the church beside a small fenced off plot of wildflowers and grasses, I found a single Indian Paintbrush with its hairy stems and cinnamon-like fragrance. In my youth, I remember seeing these often near forested areas. I don’t see them as often now and it was quite a treat to come across this one.

Over by the house some delicate looking hollyhocks welcomed a few insect visitors to help with pollination in exchange for food.

Old flowers go to seed and new ones bloom and, with the help of others not like them, to thrive. We do not know where those seeds will go, but there is gratitude in knowing they carry potential for new life and hope. That new life continues in the circle of dependence on those others not like themselves to help them bloom and grow.

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1. https://ottawa.anglicannews.ca/parishioners-say-farewell-to-innisville-church/ ↩︎
2. https://www.stporthodox.com/ ↩︎