Stillness Before The Bells

Notre Dam Cathedral, Ottawa, ON

The cathedral rises like a memory made of light, its spire dissolving into a sky of drifting silver. The street leading toward it feels washed clean, as though the city has paused just long enough for breath to become visible. Lamp posts stand like quiet witnesses, their soft glow blurring into the morning haze while the trees gather in dark, gentle silhouettes at the base of the steeple. Here, sound has edges, distant footsteps, a hint of wind yet everything remains suspended, as if waiting for the first bell to break the silence. This is the moment before presence becomes sound, before day becomes real: a stillness held in the cathedral’s patient light.