"TIN TIPPY" Docked

(Click on photo for larger image.)

Quiet on the Riverfront ~ Good Friday Photos



Replacement Bridge will be Built Along Side Old

When the new bridge is complete, the old will be torn down. The new will slide into place.





Happy Easter Weekend ~   The Neat Little Bookshop is CLOSED on Good Friday.  Reopening for Saturday, March 30.  We wish you a safe and happy weekend.

Smile for Today ~

"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools talk because they have to say something."
~ Plato (427? - 348?) Greek Philosopher.

"Drawing on my fine command of the English language, I said nothing."
~ Robert Benchey (1889 - 1945) American humourist, newspaper columnist.

Suggested conversational icebreaker:  "Do you hunt your own truffles or do you hire a pig?"  ~Jean McClatchy

~ The 2,548 Best Things Anybody Ever Said, Robert Byrne, A Fireside Book, 2006.

Progress on the Bridge ~



Loading the Barge



 

Photos taken Tues., March 26.  (For larger image click on photo.)

Thought for Today ~

"I love the winter, with its imprisonment and its cold, for it compels the prisoner to try new fields and resources.  I love to have the river closed up for a season and a pause put to my boating, to be obliged to get my boat in.  I shall launch it again in the spring with so much more pleasure.  This is an advantage in point of abstinence and moderation compared with the seaside boating, where the boat ever lies on the shore.  I love best to have each thing in its season only, and enjoy doing without it at all other times.  It is the greatest of all advantages to enjoy no advantage at all.  I find it invariably true, the poorer I am, the richer I am.  What I consider my disadvantage, I consider my advantage."

~ Henry David Thoreau, An American Landscape.  Selected Writings from His Journals, Edited by Robert L. Rothwell.Paragon House, 1991.



 Rum Running on Lake Erie ~

Ian Bell, Curator/director of Port Dover Harbour Museum

will present "Blind Pigs, Midnight Herring" 

 Tuesday, April 2, 1:30 p.m.

Haldimand County Museum, Cayuga.

Peaceful Port Dover Today

For more information, contact Margaret at 905-768-5525 or Betty at 905-899-3859.  Haldimand County Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society.

FAREWELL TO THE FARM
by Robert Louis Stevenson

The coach is at the door at last'
     The eager children, mounting fast
And kissing hands, in chorus sing:
Good-bye, good-bye, to everything!

To house and garden, field and lawn,
The meadow-gates we swang upon,
To pump and stable, tree and swing,
Good-bye, good-bye, to everything!

And fare you well for evermore,
O ladder at the hayloft door,
O hayloft where the cobwebs cling,
Good-bye, good-bye, to everything!

Crack goes the whip, and off we go;
The trees and houses smaller grow;
Last, round the woody turn we swing:
Good-bye, good-bye, to everything!

~ A Child's Garden of Verses, published in 1885. RLS was born in Scotland (1850 - 1894) Regarded as classics:  Treasure Island, The Master of Ballantrae and Kidnapped.

A Child's Garden of Verses was slowly put together by Stevenson as a diversion from his fictional work ~ as his wife comments, he "plucked a blossom here and there..." Based largely on his own childhood it is an inspiring collection which has captured the imaginations of children for generations.

"Honest Winter, snow-clad, and with the frosted beard, I can welcome not uncordially; But that long deferment of the calendar's promise, that weeping gloom of March and April, that bitter blast outraging the honour of May how often has it robbed me of heart and hope?"

~ George Gissing (1857 - 1903) English novelist.

Winston Churchill ~ On Writing

There is a story that an American general once asked Churchill to look over the draft of an address he had written.  It was returned with the comment 'Too many passives and too many zeds.'  The general asked him what he meant, and was told:  'Too many Latinate polysyllabics like "systematize", "prioritize" and "finalize".  And then the passives.  What if I had said, instead of "We shall fight on the beaches", "Hostilities will be engaged with our adversary on the coastal perimeter"?'

"Short words are best and the old words when short are best of all."

~ The Wicked Wit of Winston Churchill, Compiled by Dominique Enright, Michael O'Mara Books Ltd., England, 2001.  (Churchill 1874 - 1965)

www.winstonchurchillcanada.ca The annual Winston Churchill dinner will be held on Thursday, May 9, 2013 at the Albany Club of Toronto.  Speaker:  Terry Reardon, author of Winston Churchill and Mackenzie King, So Similar, So Different.

Join Neil Paul today in The Neat Little Bookshop ~ 1:00 p.m.  Neil will read from Shakespeare's Hamlet.  Informal Round Table discussion.

We reserve the Third Thursday of each month for An Afternoon With The Authors 

Retired from teaching, Neil is the author of A Small Volume; he frequently speaks to organizations and groups.

It may be Spring ~ Winter-like Temperatures

Looking West

 

Looking East

PROJECT:  PIKE CREEK RESTORATION


Wednesday Photos:  Pike Creek, Regional Rd. 17, Cayuga. lbw

It is Official !   It's the First Day of Spring




Two Tugboats (Click on photo.)

 

Docked

A Chilly Playground

File photo ~ Neil Paul with Fan Mrs. Huitema

Please join Neil Paul on Thursday, March 21, 1:00

Reading:  Shakespeare's Hamlet

Neil published A Small Volume, a book of Poetry

"Coffee pot's always on..."

Bring me the sunset in a cup,

     Reckon the morning's flagons up,

   And say how many dew;

Tell me how far the morning leaps,
Tell me what time the waver sleeps
   Who spun the breadths of blue!

Write me how many notes there be
In the new robin's ecstasy
   Among astonished boughs;
How many trips the tortoise makes,
How many cups the bee partakes, ~
   The debauchee of dews!

Also, who laid the rainbow's piers,
Also, who leads the docile spheres
   By withes of supple blue?
Whose fingers string the stalactite,
Who counts the wampum of the night,
   To see that none is due?

Who built this little Alban house
And shut the windows down so close
   My spirit cannot see?
Who'll let me out some gala day,
With implements to fly away,
   Passing pomposity?

~ Emily Dickinson, "Problems" Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson.

Day Of A Thousand Canoes: Registration for the 2013 event opens April 1stNe...

Day Of A Thousand Canoes: Registration for the 2013 event opens April 1st
Ne...: Registration for the 2013 event opens April 1st New Website Coming!!!!!

A Reminder ~

This Thursday, March 21, at 1:00 p.m.  An Afternoon with Authors.

Neil Paul will be in The Neat Little Bookshop.  Those of us who have heard Neil's readings never miss an opportunity to listen to his latest unpublished work.  His book of poetry A Small Volume is available in the bookshop.

This week Neil will read from Shakespeare's Hamlet.  Join us for a fun afternoon.

Please click on Postcard for larger image.

...Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.

~ From the Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi., the Saint after whom Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and his father were named.

~ Saint Francis of Assisi, A Life of Joy, Hyperion Books for Children, 2005.

Thoughts on Change ~

"So thoroughly and sincerely are we compelled to live, reverencing your life, and denying the possibility of change.  This is the only way, we say;  but there are as many ways as there can be drawn radii from one centre.  All change is a miracle to contemplate; but it is a miracle which is taking place every instant."
~ Henry Thoreau, Waldon

Vatican's 'Room of Tears' ready for next Pope

Vatican's 'Room of Tears' ready for next Pope: Just a few metres away from the Sistine Chapel the newly elected Pope will wear his Papal white vestment for the first time. Watch as final preparations are being made at the Vatican.

Puffs of White Smoke ~ 2:09 p.m.

"And when the choice is made, the camerlengo asks the candidate:  "Do you accept?"  A heavy question that can turn ambition into anguish.  Some men must have wanted to refuse.  But when a candidate answers, "I accept," in that instant of assent he becomes the successor to the See of St. Peter.
The pope-elect is then escorted to an adjoining room.  There he finds white papal cassocks in three sizes.  He chooses one, changes from the colorful garb of a cardinal ~ and spends some moments alone.  What is it like, this historic room?
...down the dark hall behind the Sistine altar...enter a small room of irregular shape, built long ago, perhaps for storage, certainly not for ceremony.
"The name of the room says everything:  the Room of Tears."
"Once the new pontiff is dressed, it is time to burn the ballots and send the puffs of white smoke up the chimney ~ the signal of resolution to the expectant crowds in St. Peter's Square.  The camerlengo then appears on a balcony and shouts "Habemus papam!  We have a pope!"

~ Bart McDowell, Inside the Vatican

"A lake is the landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature.  It is earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature.  The fluviatile trees next the shore are the slender eyelashes which fringe it, and the wooded hills and cliffs around are its overhanging brows."  ~ Henry D. Thoreau, Walden.

Exerpt from Inside the Vatican*

"Through the centuries, the form of pontifical elections has varied.  Temporal rulers ~ even mobs ~ have tried to influence the selection;  sometimes they have succeeded.  But no longer.  The isolated cardinals now elect a pope by one of three procedures:  by inspiration (acclamation), by compromise (negotiation), or by scrutiny (secret balloting requiring a two-thirds majority).  Scrutiny has been by far the most common recent method.  In centuries gone by, the deliberations have included not only persuasion, but also threats and even bribery.  But always, always prayer.

The saying is simple:  "Cardinals have elected, but God has chosen."

Source:  Inside the Vatican, Bart McDowell, National Geographic Society, The Book Division, 1991.

Forks of the Credit Ontario

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I come to die, discover that I had not lived.  I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; not did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary.  I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to tout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms..."

~ Walden, Henry D. Thoreau (1817 - 1862) American author, poet, philosopher.
Photo:  lbw

"Just one good man..."

"We church-going Roman Catholics participate in a pattern of discrimination against women that is illegal everywhere except in the church.   The federal and provincial governments ~ which rightly insist other Canadian institutions address gender issues in hiring, promotion, and pay equity ~ say nothing to the Church, whose discrimination is the most blatant."

~ Philip Milner, author and academic, The Yankee Professor's Guide to Life in Nova Scotia (1993)

Source:  Famous Lasting Words/ Great Canadian Quotations,  J. R. Colombo, Douglas & McIntyre, 2000.

Toronto Star Headline Monday, March 11 ~ VATICAN CONCLAVE:  New pope requires Church to find just one good man by Rosie DiManno.

The world awaits either black or white smoke signals ...

Virgil [Publius Vergilius Maro] ~ ancient Roman poet 70 - 19 B.C. His tombstone reads in part, "I sang of pastures, countrysides, leaders."

Quotations:

"As long as rivers shall run down to the sea, or shadows touch the mountain slopes, or stars graze in the vault of heaven, so long shall your honor, your name, your praises endure."

"O, farmers pray that your summers be wet and your winters clear."

"Let us go singing as far as we go:  the road will be less tedious."

"They can because they think they can."

"Time bears away all things."

"Love conquers all things; let us too surrender to Love."

Major works:  Eclogues, Georgics and Aeneid.

~ Source: BARTLETT's Familiar Quotations, John Bartlett, Little, Brown and Company, 1992 (16th ed.)



Day of 1000 Canoes 2012 York



Artists ~

An opportunity for artists to show their work while enjoying a day on the banks of the Grand.  Check it out.

www.riverwalkartshow.ca  also, find Day of 1000 Canoes on Facebook.

Photo: 2012 Day of 1000 Canoes, lbwalker.

Complimenting Samuel Johnson* on his great Dictionary of the English Language, two ladies praised his omission of all naughty words.  "What!  My dears!  Then you have been looking for them?"  exclaimed Johnson.  The ladies, deeply embarrassed, changed the subject.
[How times have changed! lbw]

~ THE LITTLE, BROWN BOOK OF Anecdotes, Clifton Fadiman, 1985.

*English writer, essayist, moralist (1709 - 1784)

International Women's Day ~

International Women's Day ~

Today is International Women's Day and until one of the special women in my life sent a kind note to me, I had not thought of it.

The following, a quote from a notable lady, Maria Shriver,* for special women everywhere:

"A deep change for me was realizing I'd have to take the time to know what I feel, in order to know who I am and who I want to be. . .
"The change doesn't have to be huge, but it may have to be deep.

"You may believe you're not allowed to think of yourself as separate from your job, your family, and all the other legacies you inhabit.

"But what I've come to understand is that we are first and foremost human beings in our own right.  We're entitled to our own lives, our own dreams and goals, our own legacies.
"I've finally learned after all these years that I don't need to define myself with a certain job or a certain name or a certain role in order to tell myself who I am.  I've learned that all my roles are simply a part of me ` but they're not all of me.
"Now that I'm not so obsessed about whether I measure up to other people's expectations, I've found a new gentleness and kindness in myself, for myself and for others.
"What matters most to me now is what I expect of myself.  What matters most to me now is that I know myself ~ what my heart feels, what my inner voice is telling me."

~ Just Who Will You Be?  *Maria Shriver, Hyperion, 2008.  Journalist, author, former First Lady of California.

The Reading Mother

By Strickland Gillian

I had a Mother who read to me
Sagas of pirates who scoured the sea,
Cutlasses clenched in their yellowed teeth,
“Blackbirds” stowed in the hold beneath.

I had a Mother who read me lays
Of ancient and gallant and golden days;
Stories of Marmion and Ivanhoe,
Which every boy has a right to know.

I had a Mother who read me tales
Of Gelert the hound of the hills of Wales,
True to his trust till his tragic death,
Faithfulness lent with his final breath.

I had a Mother who read me the things
That wholesome life to the boy heart brings ~
Stories that stir with an upward touch,
Oh, that each Mother of boys were such!

You may have tangible wealth untold,
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold
Richer than I, you can never be.
I had a Mother who read to me.

Have a Safe and Happy Holiday!

Photo: lbw files

Smile for Today ~

"I start every morning with the New York Times.  The first thing I do when I get up is read the obituary column.  If my names isn't in it, I get dressed."
~ Alan King (1927 - 2004) American actor, comedian.

"Do you know the first thing I do every day?  I read the New York Times obituary page, because maybe a pianist has died somewhere."
~ Leopold Godowsky (1870 - 1938)  Noted Polish-American pianist.

"I always turn to the sports page first.  The sports page records people's accomplishments, the front page nothing but man's failure."
~ Earl Warren (1891 - 1974) 14th Chief Justice of U.S.A.

~ True Confessions, Compiled by Jon Winokur, Penguin Books, 1992.



The Morning Sun

 Photography is sometimes a funny coincidence.

Smile for Today ~

In the course of conversation at an American dinner party Einstein's neighbor, a young girl, asked the white-haired professor:  "What are you actually by profession?"  Einstein replied:  "I devote myself to the study of physics."
The girl looked at him in astonishment.  "You mean to say you study physics at your age?"  she exclaimed.  "I finished mine a year ago."

~ THE LITTLE, BROWN BOOK OF Anecdotes, Clifton Fadiman, 1885.





Clearing the Ice

  Bitterly Chilly ~ Progress on the Bridge ~ Photos:  Tuesday March 5

Three Caissons




Construction of Caissons on South Side

 

Cayuga Mutual Overlooking The Grand River

Upon discovery of a valley and a beautiful stream, Alexander Graham Bell observed, "Now just think of that.  Here was a beautiful gorge, half a mile long, right on my own place, and coming at one point within fifty feet of a well-trodden road ~ and I never knew of its existence before!  We are all too much inclined, I think, to walk through life with our eyes shut.  There are things all around us, and right at our very feet, that we have never seen:  because we have never really looked.
"Don't keep forever on the public road, going only where others have gone, and following one after the other like a flock of sheep.  Leave the beaten track occasionally..."

~ GENIUS AT WORK Images of Alexander Graham Bell, Dorothy Harley Eber, McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1982.

(Photos: Ouse Street ~ Around the corner from the bookshop)



Early Telephone Operator, Brantford



BIRTHDAY OF ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL ~  March 3, 1847

Born in Edinburgh, Scotland March 3, 1847.  Bell eventually held three citizenships:  U.K., Canadian and U.S.A.

Bell Homestead ~ Brantford Ontario

"Some of the old people thought the man was foolish to spend so much time flying kites. 'It seems like a damn fool thing to do,' they'd say.  And I can hear Dr. Bell laugh yet when he heard that.  He'd throw back his head and his whiskers would bounce.  'They think I'm some kind of nut,' he'd say.  'You're a useful nut,' I'd tell him.  They'd classified him as one." ~ Mayme Morrison Brown, neighbour.

Born in Edinburgh Scotland, the innovator, inventor, teacher eventually held three citizenships:  U.K., Canadian and U.S.A.  Bell died in Nova Scotia, Canada, August 2, 1922 at the age of seventy-five.

www.bellhomestead.ca

~ Genius At Work Images of Alexander Graham Bell, Dorothy Harley Eber, McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1982.
(Photos:  Summer 2012 lbw. Click on photo for larger image.)