The View From The Ivory Tower

The dispatch center that I work in is situated in a room that the road crews refer to as "The Ivory Tower" due to the fact that a) the building is white and b) the room is semi-circular in design.  Makes sense, right?  Even though we don't have windows that open, we do have a very big floor-to-ceiling window that looks out over the City of Norwich and sometimes affords us some pretty nice views.

I was clearing out files on myiPhone and it turns out that I had quite a few pictures that I'd taken from the window at work so not having too many other ideas for a blog post today I thought I'd go ahead and post the pictures that I had.  Why not, right?

6-9-2011 @ 5:45 PM - there was a bit of a storm moving in when I took this one

10-18-2011 @ 6:55 AM - looking towards the Laurel Hill section of the city over the harbor

11-15-2011 @ 6:38 AM - another sunrise over Laurel Hill

11-28-2011 @ 4:36 PM - evening starts to fall over downtown Norwich

11-28-11 @ 4:30 PM - meanwhile on the other side of the building, the sky was golden as seen from my boss' window

12-27-2011 @ 6:52 AM - early morning in downtown

1-22-12 @ 7:50 AM - one of our few snow storms of the season; those snow-covered cars are at the Police Department

2-24-12 @ 7:43 AM - another rare storm and of course I'm working again! 

3-29-12 @ 5:57 PM - the marina on a quiet March evening

Even if you don't have the view that we do from dispatch, wherever you may be today may your view be a spectacular one! 

Who Are the People In Your Neighborhood?

It was a gorgeous day yesterday so rather than spend it in the house, I decided that the Nikon and I were in need of a bit of fresh air and sunshine so we set out to take a walk around part of our neighborhood.  I had wanted to get some pictures of the local magnolia tree while it was still in bloom and before all of its pretty petals were lying all over the sidewalk.  

There we go - a semi-nice shot of the neighbor's tree!  

From there I decided to head my feet in the direction of Yantic Cemetery which is just a short stroll in the opposite direction of the Dogwood and see how things were looking over there.  As many times as I've walked around the cemetery, I still always find gravestones that I'd not noticed before and wonder about the lives of the people who are buried beneath them.  As close as they are to my house, I've come to think of them as my very quiet neighbors.

This elaborately carved stone belongs to Austin Bliss and his wife Elizabeth Beckwith who was almost 4-1/2 years Austin's senior; obviously Austin liked older women!  They both died on January 13th, 1892 though I have no idea how.  Did they die in an accident or a fire or perhaps from some illness?  I guess the one good thing about dying on the same day is that neither had to mourn the loss of the other. 

This stone marks the grave of Caleb B. Rogers and his three wives - Harriet S. who died in 1847, Iduella T. who passed in 1849, and Eleanora H. who actually outlived Caleb by four years and died in 1875.  I wonder how Eleanora felt about sharing the stone with the two wives that had died before her and being at the bottom of the list?  Considering she outlived all of them, I'm thinking she didn't feel too badly about it! 

Looking more like a church steeple than a gravestone, this is the Morgan Family plot.  As cool of a grave markers as it is, it's not the only steeplesque onee though as there's another one right near it. 

The other steeple-like stone belongs to the Williams Family but it doesn't say much more than that.  Apparently they are neighbors who like to keep to themselves! 

The Emmons Family obviously believed in the old adage "Good fences make good neighbors" even though I'm afraid their iron fence is starting to fall apart after all these years! 

Meet the Carter Family - Sarah Elizabeth Davis who was the wife of Joseph Carter and her children, Sarah Elizabeth Carter who passed in 1901, Joseph Witter Carter who died in 1921, Josie Davis Carter who met her demise in 1935, and Hattie Louisa Carter who lived until 1944.  I'm not exactly sure where Joseph Carter himself is buried though it seems odd that he's not with the rest of the family.  One of the things I like about these stones, other than that there is an identical one for each member of the family, is that they all say "At Rest" at the very bottom of the inscription.  I think it's a lovely sentiment.

Father, mother, and daughter share the Sheffield Family stone and what caught my eye here is mom's name - Adeliza Jayne.  I think that's quite the lovely name even if it is a bit old-fashioned! 

Not too far from the Sheffields are the Benjamins - Sidney Benjamin and I'm going to guess his wife Elizabeth who remarried after Benjamin's death as her name is listed as Elizabeth B. Benjamin Colyer.  Benjamin was a member of the Connecticut Volunteers serving in Company C, Regiment 21 during the Civil War.  Based on his date of death - May 7th, 1863 - I'm going to guess that he died during the war though I've obviously got no idea as to where and how. 

Another family with ties to the Civil War are the McDavid Brothers whose stone is pictured above.  James S. McDavid died on August 23rd, 1864 at the age of 17 years and 9 months while his brother George H. died on March 27th, 1871 when he was only 22 years and 5 months.  As James was the older brother by 2 years, I'm going to guess that the flag at the grave is for him and tha he died as a result of the war at a very young age.

Corporal George W. Swain was a member of the Second Connecticut Infantry, Company B, and it looks like he's another neighbor who fought in the Civil War and never made it home alive again.  Again, I wish there were more information on his stone but it's standard military issue and tells no tales I'm afraid. 

Finally, this last stone belongs to the Jennings Family and upon closer inspection, it seems to tell a pretty sad story.

On one side of the stone is the inscription for William Jennings who was a member of the Connecticut Volunteers, Company K, 12th Regiment. He was taken prisoner at the Battle of Cedar Creek in Virginia on October 19th, 1864 and on November 9th of that same year, he died as a Prisoner of War at Salesbury Prison in North Carolina.  He was 39 years old.

Depending on when William marched off to battle he either left no wife waiting at home and worrying about him or she passed on shortly after he left as his bride, Annie Coleman, died herself on December 16th, 1862 at the age of 33.

And just to make this marker even sadder, on the opposite side of his father's is the inscription for John Arhur Jennings who died on July 15th, 1857 at the age of 2 years and 28 days. They say that there is no greater loss than that of a child but when William Jennings answered the call to duty and fought with the Connecticut Volunteers, he was a man who had already lost his son and his wife both.  I wonder if there was anyone to write him letters from home telling him that they missed him and wished him a safe return or if he was a man alone in the world?  Did he join the war because he was a man with a broken heart or did he learn of Annie's passing in some distant camp far from his beloved?  No doubt as he lay dying at the Confederate Prison in North Carolina, his thoughts were that he would be joining Annie and John Arthur soon and I'm sure that brought him a certain measure of comfort and peace. Or at least that's the story that I'm telling myself as to believe anything else would just really be too sad.

So those are just a few of my quiet neighbors who reside - nay repose - down the road from me.  As you can tell, I have a soft spot in my heart for those who served and fought during America's Civil War and I only wish that I knew more of their stories as even though what simply remains now are inscribed pieces of stone, at one time those whose names are etched upon them were living and breathing people that had families and friends and neighbors of their own.

A Look Back at This Time Last Year

My long-time friend Rhonda and I got together for our monthly luncheon date yesterday and naturally talk of the weather was on the menu.  She's missing winter and wondering where it is whereas I'm not missing it at all and figure that we got gobsmacked so badly with winter last year that we're more than deserving of the break!  Besides, it's only January which leaves plenty of time for Old Man Winter to find his way back from wherever he's wandered off to this year ... rumor has it that would be Texas and Alaska, states that have seen MORE than their fair share of snow this season!

Just as a reminder of what it looked like last year at this time I dug into my photo archives and found some pictures that I took on January 11th whilst on a very cold walk down at my favorite railroad trestle near Indian Leap Falls.  I can still distinctly remember how cold my feet and fingers were so I'm good with this year's less-than-winter-like weather!

Besides, if I really want to see snow that badly, New Hampshire isn't that far and I wouldn't have to worry about arguing with the neighbors over their total lack of parking abilities while enjoying it!

Mohegan Park in Pictures - And Few Words!

One of the good things about having to be up early for a meeting on my day off is the fact that once I'm up, I'm up which gave me some extra time to take a drive over to Mohegan Park here in Norwich to take some pictures of things that I never seem to remember to get to while they're there. Translated that means the fountain in the middle of the park when it's not winterized and the Rose Garden when the roses are actually blooming!

  Care to take a short walk with me? Having written about the park in previous posts (like here and here) I won't bore you with details but simply show you what it looks like on a lovely June day! Oh, and just FYI, the gate above is supposed to read "Park Center", the 'C' seems to have gone missing but it works anyway! 

Having only see the fountain wrapped up in a tarp the past few times I've been to the park, I was quite pleasantly surprised to see how pretty it was with the water flowing. Who knew? Well, probably other people who actually go to the park in the spring and summer!

The picture above is Spaulding Pond where I used to take the girls swimming way back in the day when they were young and cute.  The swimming area is around the other side and out of sight near the fountain way in the back of the picture.  It's been around so long that my mom used to take me there back when I was young and cute, too.  And no, Moses was not there to part the waters! 

This is the gazebo at the Rose Garden which is located on the other side of Mohegan Park from the fountain.  Lots of weddings take place here and it's rather easy to see why what with 120 different types of roses planted either in memoriam of a loved one or otherwise.  

By the time I finally made my way over to the Rose Garden it was practically the middle of the day so the lighting wasn't very good for taking pictures but that's okay, it's close by and I can easily get there another time when it's closer to evening - I just need to double-check the hours so I know when the gates are locked and then remember to get there before all of the beautiful roses go by.  For now, please enjoy the following blooms:

And there you have it, roses from the Rose of New England and a pretty fountain thrown in for good measure!  Aren't you glad I had that early morning meeting?

Exploring The Niña and the Pinta in Norwich

On what was unarguably the nicest Friday we've had in a long time, my dispatch partner Jeff and I took a trip down to the Norwich harbor to check out a couple of visitors to the city for the weekend - replicas of two of Columbus' ships, the Niña and the Pinta.

The two ships, which belong to the Columbus Foundation, travel together as enhanced "sailing museums" with the goal of educating the public and school children on the ‘caravel’, a Portuguese ship used by Columbus and many early explorers to discover new frontiers. Their last port was in Washington D.C. and following their stay in Norwich for the city's Riverfest Celebration they will be continuing north to Kittery, Maine.

Thinking it would be just the place to take the 'kids' (my Nikon and Jeff''s!) we went down to the harbor around 1:00 where we paid our $8 admission which helps defray the cost of the ships and keeping them afloat and then joined the other folks who decided it was a good day to see just how small the ships were that helped Columbus sail the ocean blue in 1492.  And let me tell you - they're small!

The Niña is an exact replica of the type of ship that Columbus and his men used when setting out to cross the Atlantic and explore the New World in an attempt to find a better trade route to the West Indies. A common trading vessel in use during the Age of Discovery, Portuguese caravels were also used as cargo carriers, warships, patrol boats, and even corsairs (pirate ships). Good sailing ships that they were the caravels had the advantages of speed, a shallow draught, and excellent maneuverability however there wasn't much by way of living space for the 27 crew members aboard.

I was rather surprised to find out that back in Columbus' day all of the crew members slept on deck as the hold was reserved for cargo like provisions, armament, water, and livestock like chickens, horses, cows, and pigs that traveled in harnesses as otherwise their legs would have broken from the rolling motion of the ships.  With all of that in the hold the crew would sleep on deck and unless they were lucky enough to find a spot up on the poop deck they'd generally be sleeping on a wet deck being that the holds were laden down with cargo and the ships would ride very low in the water.

Like all ships of its type, the Niña carried a boat that was used when the crew would need to go ashore but don't get the wrong idea and think that it also doubled as a lifeboat as, according to the crew member we spoke to, it took anywhere from 3-4 hours to launch the thing using the windlass.

The windlass was also used to raise the anchor on board - a task that took approximately three hours according to our crew member - as it only moved a couple inches per turn.  

Walking around the two ships, we had the chance to read signage on most of the things that a person might have questions about like these lines ... 

and this line ... 

and the Captain's Quarters (at least Columbus got to sleep below-deck though he only had four feet of headroom and danged little for ventilation!) 

There were the ship's tillers (the oh-so-romantic ship's wheel wasn't invented until just about 100 years later) ...

and the hand-knotted bumpers that would protect the sides of the ship from the wooden docks and wharves ... 

It really was a beautiful day to be on-board the ship and it would have been an even nicer day to take a sail up the Thames River but that's probably about as far as I'd want to go on one of these ships ... or maybe I wouldn't mind going a little further out and going once around the Block - Island, that is!

The Pinta, built larger than an original caravel, joined the Niña in 2005 as a floating museum and it's also available for charter should one wish to be desirous of taking a sail or having a party on a really neat sailing vessel.   

Just in case we weren't familiar with one, the first thing that greets you upon boarding the Pinta is a ... 

Up on the poop deck was a rather small cannon but true to what was used during that era as mostly they were used for signaling other ships.

There was obviously a lot of rigging ... 

including more shrouds ... 

The picture below is from the top of the poop deck looking towards the bow of the ship.

Below the poop deck was a small museum area where you could learn about the history of the original Pinta as well as buy a souvenir if you'd like.  Jeff bought a t-shirt but I figured I had plenty of pictures for souvenirs! 

However there's always room for more so while he made his purchase I went out and took a several more shots on the deck ... 

I don't know, there's just something about a ship's lines and rigging and sails - furled or not - that totally appeals to the romantic in me. Who knows, maybe I was a sailor in another life? Though hopefully not on one of Columbus' ships as it really doesn't sound like the most appealing life to me though the adventure certainly had to be grand in spite of the living conditions!

If you'd like to discover more information on the Niña and the Pinta - but not the Santa Maria as apparently she was Columbus' least favorite ship! - visit the Columbus Foundation website where you can also find information on how you could become a crew member should you crave a little adventure and travel.  

Personally, I'm just happy to take pictures of blue skies and riggings!