Winter Dreams Archive: 15 December 02

[This is the original tone-setting post to this log]

Rev Rev reverie

    15 December 02: To get off to a good start on a new feature I'm calling Winter Dreams, the Reverend and I (which makes two Revs) went up to the Erie Canal at Middleport to takes some pix and to check on the status of the canal draining and to take advantage of a wet 5-inch snowfall in the region.It was only in the low 20s F. We went to the Guard Gate at Middleport, expecting to see that the gates were finally lowered, but they weren't. The mystery continues, because the canal is finally drained completely, without using the gates. We thought that the gates might be used when the canal is refilled, so we'll monitor the situation. Took lots of pics, and the sky was continually changing, from cloudy to sunny and blue and back, over and over. It was a good visit.

    Winter Dreams takes its inspiration from the Symphony No. 1 of the same name, by Tchaikovsky (click here for a 384 kb mp3 file of the opening measures). I'll use this feature to journal on a boater's winter dreams and actual outings. Though we cannot float on the water, we can walk upon it in the ice and snow.

    This look and these colors for text and boxes will also be a redesign hallmark for the entire site, with a slow makeover, page by page and section by section.

    To keep the concept intact all year, I may switch to a title such as Summer Wishes during the warm months. Who knows.

• Read the original tone-setting post to this log
• Archive of Winter Dreams log entries

There were these wonderful trees with bare branches and small, bright red berries, right in the middle of the Niagara Escarpment in the middle of the city of Lockport, right on the edge of the little but impressive downtown district. I don't yet know what type of trees these are, but I'll find out. The reason that little Lockport has such an interesting downtown district is the number of 19th century buildings still standing and in use.
This is the Guard Gate at Middleport, which I have photographed many times in the past three months. I still don't know why this Guard Gate is still in the up position. We are wondering if there is a reason to put this particular gate down in the spring for refilling of the canal. In contrast, the Guard Gate on the other side of Lockport is down and has been.
This pic take down a bit from the Middleport Guard Gate and near the boat launch shows that the canal is drained all the way. I was fascinated to see that the few inches of water in the bottom of the canal were clearly flowing downstream. Before messing about on the canal I did not credit it with having any current, but it does.
Looking the other way from the canal, I took this pic of the trees along the towpath on the south side of the canal between the Middleport Guard Gate and the boat launch.