I Think I’ll Take Up Ship Watching
It’s been a busy few weeks in the bunker – not necessarily on the blogging front, but, as I have said many times before, blogging always takes an unapologetic backseat to real life in my case. The difference this summer is that I own a digital camera and a Twinkie Holster to carry it in and can actually show folks why I’m not blogging.
First off lets show you my new favorite biking accessory – the indispensable Twinkie Holster.
Mythology has it the holster was the result of a bikers love for Twinkies and no place to carry them, I don’t know whether that’s true or not but I can tell you that I’ve been haunting the bike shops for almost two years now looking for one to try on to see if the hype matches reality (it does btw) and that it’s a great way of carrying your Blackberry, smokes, and camera, without having to rummage around in pockets, tanks bags, or tail packs to find them….. now all I have to remember to do is zip it up when I get back on the bike 
The other week-end a couple of us loaded up the bikes and headed for the seaway to see if anything had changed since we were there last fall — mine is the nice, bright, red one.
After taking a ride down the Long Sault Parkway we stopped at the Iroquois Lock system to [a] see if there was a ship passing through, [b] find some place to grab a bite to eat, [c] stretch our legs, and (important for me) [d] have a smoke.
No ships came along while we were there however we did find a little canteen at the top of the hill where they serve up a really decent burger and fries, and maintain a schedule of the ships that are scheduled through the locks on any given day.
I asked the nice lady at the canteen where they got that info and was given a web site address that provides all the info you need to check out which ships are going through the locks…..
….. and when they are doing so, so that a group of folks with bikes can (while drinking their Saturday morning coffee) plan their ride to show up in time to take some pictures.
This Saturday only daughter Charlotte graduated from the Nunavut Sivuniksavut program so there was no blogging that day
… or the day after as we all came down with some sort of flu that lasted 24 hours – is there such a thing as piglet flu?
My job was to help look after the baby, she made it easy by sleeping through the whole affair.
I know that there were politicians of all political stripes out there telling lies all week, and their backers, adherents, and disciples, were out there explaining to the masses why their guy’s lie wasn’t really a lie while the other guy’s lies were almost biblical in nature — but I was busy doing important stuff like having fun, adjusting to a new job, and hanging out with my family.
You can probably expect a lot of that this summer, but, if you’re patient, and don’t quit stopping by simply because there’s been no activity for a few days, you’ll get to see some of it here courtesy of that digital camera I mentioned earlier.
This is an open trackback post, the trackback URL is
http://www.stageleft.info/2009/05/18/i-think-ill-take-up-ship-watching/trackback
Nice work. I look forward to more real life stories like this.
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Ship watching. I could write a bunch of stuff about that in a comment or three but won’t for the moment since this post really has to do with you and your family and not about me and mine. But ask me sometime. I’ve had a slightly different… perspective on the Iroquois Lock, for example.
Call for action: H.R.2454…
So, now is the time for your Representatives and Senators to hear from you. Encourage them to vote No on any version of H.R.2454 that includes Title III….
There was lots there about the locks Frank Frink – tell me your story.
In briefest of terms, stageleft, there’s a nautical heritage in my family.
Both my dad and grandfather sailed on merchant ships. My dad for only a few years spent mostly coastal trading from Montreal up through the lower Gulf of St. Lawrence up to the Quebec/Labrador border and across to the Gaspe.
My gramps sailed all his working life beginning as a Great Lakes deckhand, on to the merchant marine during WWII, post-war in the Caribbean/South American trade and also to the Arctic returning to the Great Lakes in the late 50’s. Eventually obtained his master mariner’s certification.
My summers between the age eight and the age of fifteen were spent on board the Great Lakes bulk carriers under his command. Been everywhere throughout the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence system by ship, from Sept-Iles on Quebec’s North Shore to both the US (Duluth/Superior) and Canadian (Thunder Bay) lakeheads. To this day I have only ever been to places like Chicago and Cleveland over water.
So, yes, I’ve passed through the Iroquois Lock more times than I can count on 670-730 ft. long bulk carriers. Ditto, the other Seaway locks, the Welland Canal, the Soo Locks, the Rock Cut… pretty much everywhere except the Keweenaw Waterway & Portage Canal on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Iroquois Lock is actually a control lock bypassing the Iroquois control dam. Effectively, unlike most other locks on the Seaway system, there is no raising of lowering of water levels. As you likely know from reading the material, the building of control dam created a controlled flood back up the river resulting in the drowning of a number of towns between Cornwall and Iroquois. The Lost Towns of the St. Lawrence. My grandparents also lived in Morrisburg part of this time so I have been up and down that area many times. Did a little ship watching from the riverside park in Morrisburg, too.
(also of possible interest to Balby. Grampa spent a lot of time pointing out the location of famous shipwrecks on the lakes and channels).
So, bit of an unusual childhood. No summer camps for me.
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Obama’s Cars…
Podcast Show Notes
Obama’s car tax.
We now own a car company and are forgiving a $15 billion loan. (Hat Tip: Hot Air.)
The Obama budget deficit in perspective. (Hat Tip: Willisms.)
The specter of cowardice. (Hat Tip: Michelle Malkin.)
Te…..
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Who’s the real activist?…
A few weeks ago, A and I went kayaking down the Chattahoochee River. It was the first time for both of us and we had a real blast. When we got to the meeting place that morning, I saw bumper sticker that really hit home for me:…
2009 Hurricane season predictions…
Hello again friends. Hurricane season starts in 5 days in the Atlantic basic, Gulf of Mexico and eastern Pacific.2009 starts my third year with tropical storm tracking on this site. This year will be a little different, th ……
No Democrat Left Behind…
we are “committed to the vigorous prosecution of those who intimidate, threaten or coerce any one DEMOCRAT exercising his or her sacred right to vote.”
There. FTFY.
……
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