Friday, 04 September, 2015 –

Friday, September 4th, 2015 -( 19˚C / 66˚F with “Scattered Clouds” @ 12:45 pm )- on Mike Piazza’s Birthday.

[ No, I’m not a baseball groupie, I’m a Virgo with silly memory retention on a lot of birthdays. -shrug- ]

This is the view from the deck at the Lighthouse on the Green as of September 4th, 2015.

We recently sent a link from here to a restaurant mentioned way back when we began this blog. Then, looking at what we had started and noticing that we hadn’t posted much lately, with the possibility that we hadn’t posted anything at all since a storm named ‘Arthur’ had ravaged the area, in what? July of 2014? – um, we’ve been thinkin’ – that maybe we should take this blog/service a little more seriously.

I found it remarkable that when I was sitting there, looking out at the river, my imagination zoomed in and ‘cropped-out’ a lot of details this photo included. I was paying attention to the river and a little bit of green on both banks, with the hills to the north in the background. That rates a, “Hmmmm -” -jim-

We made two trips downtown today. Early in the day we paid a visit to Service Canada which is east of the Green where tourists can be treated by ‘Redcoats’ marching around with period rifles and listen to the re-enactors firing off loud volleys with ‘blank shots’. Most of the times I’ve heard anyone fire an old cap and ball flintlock type rifle it’s sounded like a cap pistol. Lately I’ve been shocked by how loud they can be when several at once are fired off by re-enactors in a semi-enclosed area. The Lighthouse on the Green is also across the street, east of the green, directly behind the Service Canada building. There’s at least one other building in between.

In the early evening we went back to enjoy ice cream and take in the view. The Lighthouse on the Green will close for the season at 6 pm on next Monday, Labour Day. We think that’s a shame. But we’ve never asked anybody if the cooks, waiters and waitresses are comprised solely of students from area schools – and we never pried into whether or not they might make enough money to justify opening earlier in the season – They now open for business after school is out for the summer – or close a bit later in the autumn.

We thought this fountain had a very European feel to it. This is a closeup.

I should take more notes about where I shoot photographs – yes, I can go back and note where various photos that I’ve published here were taken, and then edit this later, for now this is “Somewhere on the North side of Queen Street in Fredericton.”

This is the same fountain as above, with most of it visible. If I wanted to be a bit more professional here I would go back and reshoot this photo earlier in the afternoon, or wait for a cloudy day when the contrast between sunlight and shadow wouldn’t be so obvious.

And here we have ‘my favourite spouse’ looking at the fountain with the play of sunlight and shadow in the background.

— I never thought of myself as any sort of Chamber of Commerce spokes person or as the eyes and ears of any Tourist Bureau. And frankly, the voice in my head as I sub-verbalize while composing the text here, being careful to keep this friendly and positive, scares me a little. I don’t like believing I can be ‘annoyingly optimistic’ or sound like I’ve just had my brain dipped in some kind of warm syrup, or taken a course in ‘mindless advocacy’.

— Fredericton attracts artists and thinkers. There are also politicians here, the provincial government and legislature hangs out in buildings on Queen Street. I haven’t posted any photos of Fredericton’s homeless citizens. I haven’t taken any photos of Fredericton’s homeless citizens. Last year there was a minor confrontation between young women high school students and the local school board. A local blogger accused one local policeman of going a bit farther than he should and taking himself a bit too seriously and possibly exceeding his authority and/or crossing a line between professionalism and ‘pushing people around without just cause’.

— So, not everyone in Fredericton is 100% angelic. And I can still love the place while exercising my poetic license and laughing to myself about the grammar police who would find this paragraph quite annoying. The Anal-Retentive among the grammar police have taken lately to looking down their noses at anyone who begins a sentence with the word ‘so’. And they would probably rather shoot me on sight than let me get away with beginning a sentence with ‘And’.  – insert winking faced sticker here –

~~~~~ Jim

 

 

Minor (?) Flooding on the Saint John River at Fredericton

Wednesday, 16 April, 2014. It was +2˚C / +37˚F @ 6:45 this morning.

We had some precipitation. Started out mostly rain with streaks of white here and there. At around 10:00 am we had what looked like a determined snow storm taking place. By 11:00 am the precipitation had pretty much blown away.

At about noon, I went to the boat launch area in the park at the south end of Gibson Street and shot the following (I hope the video loads in here okay).

Flooded Park, Fredericton, Northside, at the foot of Gibson Street. April 16th, 2014.

Nope, the video did not load. This is a still from the video.

~~~~~Jim

National Novel Writing Month

November 2nd, 2013:

November is NaNoWriMo month.

Graphic Link to NaNoWriMo Start Page.

I might not get a lot of blogging done if I’ll be chugging out at least 1600 words a day for all of November writing a nano-novel.

But then again it’s taken me 2 & 1/2 hours per night to write almost 2,500 words per night.

& because this is happening while Mercury is Retrograde, I didn’t start a brand spankin new novel, I picked one up I’d started a couple years ago and continued on with it. So far so good, the test will come on November 10th when mercury stops and then begins to move forward again, lets see if this novel can hold my interest when that happens.

 

~~~~~Jim

Related articles

• Mercury Madness: Why Mercury In Retrograde Is Making You Feel A Little Off (elitedaily.com)
• Mercury in Retrograde (femoir.wordpress.com)
• How To Survive Mercury Retrograde! (noliesradio.org)
• Top 10 Things Not to Do During Mercury Retrograde. (elephantjournal.com)
• NaNoWriMo – it’s that time of year again (idrisgrey.wordpress.com)
• You can do it! Success stories of people that have turned their #NaNoWriMo books into bestsellers. http://t.co/2Bg1AAOp7A (tor.com)
• Mercury Retrograde (Yes, I’m one of THOSE people) (emilynolin.com)

First Nations Presence in Fredericton to Protect Everybody’s Water and Land

Wednesday, 30 October, 2013.

New Brunswick‘s First Nations People want you to know they’re not here to protest or cause any trouble. They’re here because they’re committed to protecting Mother Earth and everybody’s drinking water. Fracking hurts everybody.

We saw them carry their sacred fire across the walking bridge, we saw them set up their traditional long house near the New Brunswick Provincial Legislature building. But we haven’t seen much of them in the nightly news since.

The people who believe they’ve been told they represent us and have the power to make decisions for us want the First Nations to go away and let them rape the province for fun and profit.

Nobody in power wants to remember that the current Conservative Provincial Government was elected because the previous government did not comply with New Brunswick’s citizens’ wishes.

Mother Earth is not happy.

Believe me, you do not want to be an enemy of Mother Earth.

& According to Pastor Lindsey Williams in his book “The Energy Non-Crisis“, Oil companies are pumping enough natural gas back into the ground in Alaska to ‘Light up the whole East Coast of the USA Free for the next 3 years‘. Why? Because they want to keep the price of oil and gas way above what it should be. Go watch the Movies “Gasland” and “Gasland II”. Don’t wait until your kitchen sink bursts into flame to realize we’re being sold a line of…. [doo doo] by greedy men who would be really happy if they could kill most of us off so they’d be better able to enslave the survivors. (Oops, sorry, I went political on you.)

Related articles

• N.B. premier refuses to meet shale gas protesters in Fredericton (globalnews.ca)
• CBC: Mi’kmaq urged to reclaim all Crown land (sacredfirenb.com)
• N.B. Maliseet sign opposition to shale gas (cbc.ca)
• “FRACK OFF!” Elsipogtog First Nation announces major land reclamation in ongoing anti-fracking struggle (tworowtimes.com)
• More shale gas protests expected after violence in New Brunswick (calgaryherald.com)

Early Morning Fog

Thursday, 24 October, 2013.

You can see a layer of fog clinging to the St John River here, looking South / West from the junction of Gibson Street and Union Street. (taken with a Samsung Galaxy III ‘Smart Phone’)

This is a line of cars backed up in the right hand lane, southbound, on the Westmorland Bridge.

This photograph was taken at ten minutes to 8 on the south side of the river, heading into the sunrise.

The above two photographs aren’t quite identical, you might have to look closely to notice the fog on the river above.

My life partner (can’t get used to calling her my ‘wife’) is still discovering new things to love about Fredericton, almost every day. Scenery that natives would take for granted appears magically spectacular to both of us. I’ve lived near beaches before and driving near beaches and some rivers, like this one, you can see that it’s never quite the same scene twice.

Related articles

• Beyond the Fog (embracingspirit.wordpress.com)

Finally got a decent photo of the footbridge

Monday, 21 October, 2013.

The lighting was just right to get a decent photograph of the footbridge (which used to be a railroad bridge) in Fredericton.

I took the above with my usual Olympus digital camera. (Which I bought for half price at a Shoppers Drug Mart as a Boxing Day Special.) This was at about 8:30 this morning (I get to appreciate our changing scenery in different lighting as I’ve been driving my favourite person back and forth to work while our second vehicle is awaiting parts at one of our two local Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep dealers.)

This is a bit to the right of the bridge, looking at the Down Town section of Fredericton, where the light was almost as friendly as it was to the bridge.

One thing I’ve noticed in the last couple days, is some white ‘stripes’ on the river, parallel to the south shore. I have no idea what might cause that, but it is intriguing. (And no, you can’t see those here.)

Thanksgiving Dinner At Kings Landing

—October 12, 2013— King’s Landing Historical Settlement

(( On Monday, October 14, our friends in the USA will celebrate Columbus Day. In Canada, we will celebrate Thanksgiving. ))

The Village, Period Buildings Rescued and moved to “King’s Landing” where Re-Enactors in period dress don’t mind explaining their lifestyle to silly 21st Century folks. (Photo by Cathi Harris)

—We heard about King’s Landing Historical Settlement Near Fredericton, New Brunswick. (Not the city in the television series “Game Of Thrones” – Based on George RR Matin’s seven book series “Song of Ice and Fire”.)

A Wagon Driver made room for passengers and gave us a ride down the hill to the Settlement Village. (Photo by Cathi Harris)

—We also heard that this weekend before Canadian Thanksgiving Day would be the final weekend of this season that the theme park would be open.

—The spouse of my dreams had been to “Upper Canada Village” and wanted to see King’s Landing.

A Local Wagon Owner is happy to give you a ride up or down the hill in the Settlement of King’s Landing.

—We realized that the King’s Head Inn was a real restaurant that actually served food, and thought we’d get a sandwich and a coffee.

Properly attired women serve really good food to oddly dressed people and have the uncommon decency not to point out the fact that we are, dressed very strangely according to 19th Century eyes. (Photo by Cathi Harris)

—We didn’t realize that this was a real Restaurant that would serve a wonderful Thanksgiving Dinner. We got lucky.

Thanksgiving Dinner as served at the King’s Head Inn. (Photo by Cathi Harris)

This is a Map of the Historical Settlement. (Photo by Cathi Harris)

—After dinner, we didn’t have long to explore the village. But we did take a walk down beside a farmer’s fields (with a scarecrow), took a peek into the Blacksmith’s Barn, Stepped inside an authentic General Store, Had a very nice talk with a caretaker at a genuine Anglican Church, and made it back up the hill in time to buy a very nice tapestry type blanket.

This is the farm closest to the river, complete with a realistic scarecrow.

Inside the Blacksmith’s Barn. (Photo by Cathi Harris)

One wall inside the General Store. (Photo by Cathi Harris)

Another Wall inside the General Store. Several items appear to be hanging on a clothesline, including a portrait. (Photo by Cathi Harris)

This is a real Anglican Church. They actually hold church services here on Sundays when the settlement is open to the public. (Photo by Cathi Harris)

—We had a surprisingly good time on a beautiful day and had a wonderful Thanksgiving Dinner while we were at it.

Related articles

• An Old Fashion Holiday at Kings Landing (travelglobalthinklocal.wordpress.com)
• Canadian Thanksgiving, a history (wiredwednesdays.wordpress.com)

Caught the Sunset Tonight-

We caught the sunset just right tonight, and so did several other camera people, including one guy with a professional tripod and camera who got there as we were leaving.

It wasn’t the most spectacular sunset I’ve ever seen, but it came close. It had a subtle magic that kind of snuck up on us and took over, transported us to that wonderful place where suddenly your whole life is transformed by a sense of awe and wonder.

Some of the shots we managed to get were pretty close to breathtaking.

Part of the problem I’m having now, is, which photos do I exclude from this?

I’m not sure why I took this shot, but I like the way it came out.

I’ve used Photoshop here, but just clicked on the “image/autolevels” Adjustment.

You can’t see it in the thumbnail, but the old RailRoad Bridge (now a footbridge) is visible in the upper left quarter.

And like I said, I’m having trouble trying to decide what not to include here.

Widening circles from a skipped stone are visible here.

I’ve only used photos here with a human that almost certainly could not be identified.

This is a wide angle shot of the sun setting behind Fredericton south from the boat launch area south of Gibson Street.

I better quit now.

Autumn Approaches

Early Autumn- As the trees think about changing colours, boat owners think about keeping their boats safe at home.

With the Lighthouse closed on Mondays we snuck down to our friendly neighbourhood Dairy Queen on Main Street (Or is that Union Street there?) and brought our ice cream back to the boat launching park. The Saint John River was in a happy reflective mood and Friendly Boat Owners were guiding their craft onto trailers and preparing to take them home for the winter ahead.

Gulls in a straight line formation near the boat launch area. Old Train Bridge- now a Walking Bridge, spans the reflective Saint John River. Several Buildings in the down town area are visible. Some are reflected.

We were happy to see that quite a few others were taking advantage of this beautiful evening to sit and watch the river flow, while the Gulls acted out their Sea Gull ways. Boats near the south shore kicked up a wonderful straight line wake while we were happy to relax and feel the magic of the moment.

Trees in this park on the North Side of the Saint John River are just beginning to turn. Couples of all ages take advantage of a beautiful warm evening for a quiet walk in the park.

Even the rocks seem to be happily day dreaming.

The River looks bigger “in Real Life”. As leaves begin to turn colours, the park and all its visitors holds its (and their) breath and smile and enjoy Life and Nature’s Beauty.

At one point, on this evening, the love of my life turned to me with a smile almost too big to keep to herself and said, “I still have trouble believing we’re really here.”

 

 

& Ahhh- The River-

Our First view of the St John River was from the Princess Margaret Bridge.

Looking South from the Princess Margaret Bridge as we sped across it on our way to our Motel the first evening in Fredericton.

If You Look Closely, There are quite a few Cormorants on the closest Ancient Bridge Support.

After seeing hundreds of sea gulls playing king of the mountain on the old bridge supports we noticed one day, a flock of Cormorants had taken over the southern most support here.

This is from the Boat Launching Park on the North side of the St John. The Westmoreland Bridge is in the distance.

Looking pretty much west from the Boat Launching Park on the North Side of the St John River. The Westmoreland Bridge and Hills are in the background.

Okay, so this photo seems to feature the parking lot at the Boat Launch Park at the foot of Gibson Street on the North Side of the River. But the river is there and so is a little bit of downtown Fredericton.

Some of the above photos play down the size or width of the St John River here, but that river played a major part in the settlement of this city and much of its history.

Another view of the Westmoreland Bridge, this one from the Lighthouse on the Green on the South Side.

I’m pretty sure that’s a walking trail in the foreground. The river, the old bridige supports and the Westmoreland bridge, and then a little bit of the North Side with its hills are in the background.