Good Morning
The un-paid debt lies in the realisation that I did not actually include the view back towards St. John’s from Cape Spear yesterday, which gives me the excuse to babel on about the ocean. Here is the current government sign gracing the point, the third version we have seen in 5 years. Maybe it gets destroyed by weather each and every year? Why it isn’t made of metal one can only understand if one has worked in government, and I haven’t.
Here are three old plaques they have remounted, very hard to read, but still there:
The two on the outside are in memory of people who drowned, and I cannot read the middle, which I will investigate and report back on. Here is as close as I got to crashing waves on this trip, not wanting to be commemorated for my foolishness:
I am more like the lucky fellow on the bench below:
When we sailed (well, motored, but that’s just landlubber chatter) to England on the Stefan Batory, at the time a Polish ocean liner,
in the 1970’s, it took ten days from Montreal to wherever it was we landed in England, and we didn’t see land for 8 of them. I remember seeing Newfoundland emerge from the fog when we returned the following summer. What a welcome sight! It took me a few more years to emerge from the London fog, and some of it still clings to me. The immenseness of the ocean was humbling to say the least, and I began to really grow up, albeit with teenage growing pains to drive a patient parent crazy.
Which I failed to do apparently (thanks mum) because on a holiday once in the Bahamas with said patient mum, staying at Old Bahama Bay, a fabulous resort for a certain sort of person, i.e. me
at the top of Grand Bahama, they had Hobie Cats to borrow on the beach,
and one day one of them set sail by itself, and started out to sea. As several of us began to react, an idiot I remember well to this day said to me, “Don’t worry, it won’t go far.”
Here is a map, drawn to explain the Atlantic approaches in the two World Wars:
Now it is true that the catamaran could have hit the Azores or Cape Verde, before Africa, which was my unspoken 2nd thought, after 1st wanting to hit him on the back of his thick head with my kayak paddle, but that still seems a long way to me. Looking at the map, I want to say we landed in Liverpool, but you would think I would remember that. Fog indeed. I had met a nice young man on the eastern bound Stefan Batory sailing, and it turned out we had shared interests, and he was quite determined to finish his sharing before he crossed customs on his way to the American school in Paris. There is always somewhere downwind on a ship, and I was his very willing accomplice. We successfully achieved his goal, you will be pleased to know, and nothing was wasted. Except maybe us.
All of this is to say that the Atlantic is very, very, big, and I do not tire of it. Here is the Atlantic, uninterrupted, looking out from up near the lighthouse at Cape Spear:
Wow.
The Lighthouse by
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The rocky ledge runs far into the sea,
And on its outer point, some miles away,
The Lighthouse lifts its massive masonry,
A pillar of fire by night, of cloud by day.
Even at this distance I can see the tides,
Upheaving, break unheard along its base,
A speechless wrath, that rises and subsides
In the white lip and tremor of the face.
And as the evening darkens, lo! how bright,
Through the deep purple of the twilight air,
Beams forth the sudden radiance of its light
With strange, unearthly splendor in the glare!
Not one alone; from each projecting cape
And perilous reef along the ocean’s verge,
Starts into life a dim, gigantic shape,
Holding its lantern o’er the restless surge.
Like the great giant Christopher it stands
Upon the brink of the tempestuous wave,
Wading far out among the rocks and sands,
The night-o’ertaken mariner to save.
And the great ships sail outward and return,
Bending and bowing o’er the billowy swells,
And ever joyful, as they see it burn,
They wave their silent welcomes and farewells.
They come forth from the darkness, and their sails
Gleam for a moment only in the blaze,
And eager faces, as the light unveils,
Gaze at the tower, and vanish while they gaze.
The mariner remembers when a child,
On his first voyage, he saw it fade and sink;
And when, returning from adventures wild,
He saw it rise again o’er ocean’s brink.
Steadfast, serene, immovable, the same
Year after year, through all the silent night
Burns on forevermore that quenchless flame,
Shines on that inextinguishable light!
It sees the ocean to its bosom clasp
The rocks and sea-sand with the kiss of peace;
It sees the wild winds lift it in their grasp,
And hold it up, and shake it like a fleece.
The startled waves leap over it; the storm
Smites it with all the scourges of the rain,
And steadily against its solid form
Press the great shoulders of the hurricane.
The sea-bird wheeling round it, with the din
Of wings and winds and solitary cries,
Blinded and maddened by the light within,
Dashes himself against the glare, and dies.
A new Prometheus, chained upon the rock,
Still grasping in his hand the fire of Jove,
It does not hear the cry, nor heed the shock,
But hails the mariner with words of love.
“Sail on!” it says, “sail on, ye stately ships!
And with your floating bridge the ocean span;
Be mine to guard this light from all eclipse,
Be yours to bring man nearer unto man!”
“Edward Rowe Snow, the popular historian and raconteur of the New England coast, wrote in his book Famous New England Lighthouses, “Portland Head and its light seem to symbolize the state of Maine—rocky coast, breaking waves, sparkling water and clear, pure salt air.”
The hundreds of thousands of people who visit Portland Head each year would agree; this is one of the most strikingly beautiful lighthouse locations in New England.”
more here…
http://www.lighthouse.cc/portlandhead/history.html
still not used to posting pics here. let’s try that again…
one more try…
my ex’s family and some of their friends actually bought and own this place,truly incredible,everything is on pilings and the island(s) constantly shift around it..many fond memories and a few Mooseheads consumed. Old Coast Guard Station, Cedar Island Va. Thank You Xty. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=416519771744818&set=a.416519761744819.99210.416491581747637&type=1&theater
well..they say that* practice makes perfect* and i have difficulty with perfect and really not sure who they are. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbIuC9hTY9Y
off topic…!Alert! Moderator! not sure why i am so fond of this particular tune…always gives me a sense of freedom and hope…even though i’m sure that Joni is referring to men. maravich confucius. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2rjDBQ1UDY
trying to drop 3 tunes…if i can remember them.here goes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V069wWEnCys. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKtk3bK5yTk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qip765E5hrM. best to all, fine friends.
I remember not posting some of that poem, during a previous incarnation, because I felt presumptuous, but these two stanza stand out to me, and I don’t mean to sound pompous, just that one should try in life:
Like the great giant Christopher it stands
Upon the brink of the tempestuous wave,
Wading far out among the rocks and sands,
The night-o’ertaken mariner to save.
…
“Sail on!” it says, “sail on, ye stately ships!
And with your floating bridge the ocean span;
Be mine to guard this light from all eclipse,
Be yours to bring man nearer unto man!”
You are obviously not materialistic, if that is owned by your ex.
bit of As..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjsAy7HFeX0
considered a d.b. alert but man…his licks and lyrics are good. please gather a listen. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8tG9lMIJTg
love songs..massive amounts of rain. need some sun…Juliet.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64vvX6-d_JY
there is a backstory tabloid tale about the meaning of this song, apparently written for a child that she never had..always loved it; no matter the origin or intent..plus..Stevie was crushing on me pretty heavy back then. hi and love as always. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgJxpr_8eOY
the full moon is a day away, yet the vampires remain held at bay. please partake in a blood red ale, only recently escaped from Britain.
oh no. ain’t cuttin this moderator any slack…for EO..please forward some discount double checks and other saps tax refunds. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0-S1X-fyk4
Robert Monroe,, Erich(all) the reason that I asked is because his 1st book is available online, pretty sure that i have it saved somewhere..you would like it, couldn’t remember if I had already sent it to you..let me know…hey man..you need to Fix this site..the moderator appears to be a slacker(a woman I think) for the Lady. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVJBWBrwCLk
quite a different perspective..think back even 10 yrs. ago…a very strange journey. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAnK6UBAZSk
as we wander. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fPTwLasBdE
Even superwomen apparently can sleep sometimes – must be the Newfie air. But if anyone wants to have a google search for this issue feel free. Usually I can find information, even if I don’t understand it, about computer issues on the web, but I have found nothing about this problem that makes any sense to me.
There are very few options for selecting what happens to a comment, and I have set it up so that comments should go right through if I have previously approved them, and it just doesn’t happen. All comments get sent and I manually clear them.
Flying home today but we are having mum issues back in Toronto, so it looks like I will be going and picking mum up for a moment to stay with us while we figure out the next phase, which if she continues shouting at people who try to help her, is going to involve a tranquilizer gun. Just kidding. Really.
Or there is the option of signing you in – there is an option to only allow posts from people who are signed in and that might work. If I send you a password you could then have fun getting frustrated by that plug-in, but it might work.
If this appears without moderation, I will be sending you a password to try logging in.
Me, but with a B.
Well that is ridiculous. It just went to moderation.
Want to send this one out to the GOP, only because I know it annoys them so. 🙂
Must enjoy the sweet smell of victory while I can, for the fight begins anew on the morrow. Avert your eyes while I gird my loins.