Month: July 2025

Summer In The City

I am so tired of the MSM and their continuous fear mongering when temps hit 30 plus.

Typical weather map today by the woke UN:

Sydney weather: Global heat map shows record-breaking heat across the world | The Advertiser

 

We’re all going to die Virginia – until hell freezes over that is!

Or this:

Weatherman Percy Saltzman and his blackboard (1969) | Cute dogs, Cute funny animals, Funny ...

From 1968. Percy Saltzman and his weather board and chalk.

Or this:

At CFTO-TV, Dave Devall dresses up weathercasts by writing backwards

Dave Duval doing weather writing backwards.

Ah the good ole weather days when winters were cold and summers were hot, hot, hot. When weather meant a high or a low, a front or a trough. And when weathermen knew their stuff and were ambidextrous and creative.

30C is 88F. Just like your winter vacation to the Caribbean or Mexico;

32 is 89.6

34 is 93.2

No big deal. It is summer for effin sake. It is supposed to be hot. Here are some heat stats if you think today is somehow different.

  • 1901 – 1901 eastern United States heat wave killed 9,500 in the Eastern United States.
  • 1906 – during the 1906 United Kingdom heat wave which began in August and lasted into September broke numerous records. On September 2 temperatures reached 35.6 °C (96.1 °F), which still holds the September record, however some places beat their local record during September 1911 and September 2016.
  • 1911 – 1911 Eastern North America heat wave killed between 380 and 2,000 people.
  • 1911 – 1911 United Kingdom heat wave was one of the most severe periods of heat to hit the country with temperatures around 36 °C (97 °F). The heat began in early July and didn’t let up until mid-September where even in September temperatures were still up to 33 °C (91 °F). It took 79 years for temperature higher to be recorded in the United Kingdom during 1990 United Kingdom heat wave.
  • 1911 – 41,072 deaths were reported during a heat wave in France.
  • 1913 – in July, the hottest heat wave ever struck California. During this heat wave, Death Valley recorded a record high temperature of 57 °C (134 °F) at Furnace Creek, which still remains the highest ambient air temperature recorded on Earth.
  • 1921 – Hottest July on record across Eastern Canada and parts of the Northeastern US, part of a very warm year in those places. Parts of the United Kingdom also saw recording breaking heat, also part of a very warm year. The Central England Temperature for July was 18.5 °C (65.3 °F), which was the 8th warmest since records began in 1659, and the warmest since 1852. The year of 1921 was the warmest on record at the time but has since been eclipsed by 15 other years.
  • 1923–1924 – during a period of 160 such days from 31 October 1923 to 7 April 1924, the Western Australian town of Marble Bar reached 38 °C (100 °F).
  • 1930s – Almost every year from 1930 to 1938 featured historic heat waves and droughts somewhere in North America, part of the Dust Bowl years.
  • 1936 – 1936 North American heat wave during the Dust Bowl, followed one of the coldest winters on record—the 1936 North American cold wave. Massive heat waves across North America were persistent in the 1930s, many mid-Atlantic/Ohio valley states recorded their highest temperatures during July 1934. The longest continuous string of 38 °C (100 °F) or higher temperatures was reached for 101 days in Yuma, Arizona during 1937 and the highest temperatures ever reached in Canada were recorded in two locations in Saskatchewan in July 1937.
  • 1947 – record breaking temperature of 37.6 °C (99.7 °F) in Paris recorded on June 26, 1947.[10]
  • 1950s – Prolonged severe drought and heat wave occurred in the early 1950s throughout the central and southern United States. Every year from 1952 to 1955 featured major heat waves across North America. In some areas it was drier than during the Dust Bowl and the heat wave in most areas was within the top five on record. The heat was particularly severe in 1954 with 22 days of temperatures exceeding 38 °C (100 °F) covering significant parts of eleven states. On 14 July, the thermometer reached 47 °C (117 °F) at East St. Louis, Illinois, which remains the record highest temperature for that state.
  • October 1952 – Romania was hit by very hot weather. Temperatures reached 39.0 °C (102.2 °F) on 2 October, with Bucharest reaching 35.2 °C (95.4 °F). Temperatures on the night of 2–3 October were also just under 26 °C (79 °F).
  • 1955 – 1955 United Kingdom heat wave was a period of hot weather that was accompanied by drought. In some places it was the worst drought on record, more severe than 1976 and 1995.
  • 1960 – on 2 January, Oodnadatta, South Australia hit 50.7 °C (123.3 °F) degrees, the highest temperature ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere and Oceania.
  • 1972 – heat waves of 1972 in New York and Northeastern United States were significant. Almost 900 people died; the heat conditions lasted almost 16 days, aggravated by very high humidity levels.
  • 1976 – 1976 United Kingdom heat wave was one of the hottest in living memory, with temperatures exceeding 32 °C (90 °F) somewhere in the country for over two consecutive weeks. The heatwave was also accompanied by one of the worst droughts in British history, and reservoirs reached historic low levels during the heat wave that would not be seen again until the heat waves of the 21st century. The maximum recorded temperature of the heat wave, 35.9 °C (96.6 °F) at Cheltenham, Gloucestershire was at the time the third highest reliably recorded temperature in British history, with only the 1911 heat wave achieving higher reliably recorded temperatures.
  • 1980 – estimated 1,000 people died in the 1980 United States heat wave and drought, which impacted the central and eastern United States. Temperatures were highest in the southern plains. From June through September, temperatures remained above 32 °C (90 °F) all but two days in Kansas City, Missouri. The Dallas/Fort Worth area experienced 42 consecutive days with high temperatures above 38 °C (100 °F), with temperatures reaching 47 °C (117 °F) at Wichita Falls, Texas, on 28 June. Economic losses were $20 billion (1980 dollars).
  • 1981 – August 1981 heat wave in the Pacific Northwest.
  • 1983 – during the Summer of 1983 temperatures over 38 °C (100 °F) were common across Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota, Kansas, Nebraska, and certain parts of Kentucky; the summer of 1983 remains one of the hottest summers ever recorded in many of the states affected. The hundred-degree readings were accompanied by very dry conditions associated with drought affecting the Corn Belt States and Upper Midwest. The heat also affected the Southeastern U.S. and the Mid-Atlantic states as well that same summer. New York Times represented articles about the heat waves of 1983 affecting the central United States. This heat wave was associated with the I-94 derecho.
  • 1983 – United Kingdom experienced a heatwave during July 1983. This was the hottest month ever recorded until it was beaten in August 1995.
Temperature difference in Europe from the average during the European heat wave of 2003
  • 1987 – prolonged heat wave from 20 to 31 July in Greece, with more than 1,000 deaths in the area of Athens. The maximum temperature measured was 41.9 °C (107.4 °F) at 23 July at the center of Athens and in the suburb of Nea Philadelphia, 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) northeast was 43.6 °C (110.5 °F) on 27 July, and were combined with high minima, with the highest being 30.2 °C (86.4 °F) in the center of Athens at 27 July and 29.9 °C (85.8 °F) at 24 July at Nea Philadelphia. The lowest minimum was 25.6 °C (78.1 °F) at the center of Athens. Moreover, humidity was high and wind speeds low, contributing to human discomfort, even during the night.
  • 1988 – intense heat spells in combination with the drought of 1988, reminiscent of the dust bowl years caused deadly results across the United States. Official estimates report that 5,000 to 10,000 people died because of constant heat across the United States. Some estimates put total deaths at close to 17,000.

So there. The world is not going to end – as the UN would have us believe. To scare you even more the MSM will state: “It may be 30C but it feels like 42! BS! It is 30C. Cities are heat sinks and when near water they are humidity sinks as well.

My advice? Get out of the UN…Now! Turn off the TV weather reports.

From 1966………………………….

Shakeyjay…Out of here. I am Goin to the lake.

Ted’s Letter To Jim

Excerpt from Red Jewel

Ted’s letter to Jim – Part One

He collected his papers and Nigel’s and placed them into a side
pocket inside of his duff el bag. He found the sextant on the chart table
and discovered that it was still in good operating condition. He decided
to take that as well. Nothing else though. The publications and manuals
were of no use to him now. He looked around. Anything else? That was
it. But there was something else. “Yes. A letter,” he thought. A letter that
Ted had written to him and had asked him not to open or to read until
he had reached Saipan.

“Cripes Ted. I almost forgot about that. But where did I put it?” He
rifled through some of the pockets of his shorts that he remembered
wearing in Hawaii. It was not there. “Where damn it, where did I put
it? Oh shit, I almost forgot.” He opened the small panel that contained
books that he and Nigel kept for their own personal use. It was secured
to the port bulkhead just aft of the shitter…or head in mariner’s parlance.
Two books were of note to Jim: Hawaii and Tales of the South Pacifi c.
Th ere, in the jacket of Hawaii, was the letter from Ted. He grabbed it,
sat down on the starboard settee, which had been his berth and began
to read.

Dear Jim

If you are reading this then you made it to Saipan safely.
Congratulations. That is quite the accomplishment. You should be
proud of yourself. Enjoy your stay there. I hope you can get out and
enjoy all that Saipan has to offer you and Nigel, especially after such a
long sail from Honolulu. Good luck with your continued adventures.

“Thanks Ted.” Jim said aloud.

I hope that you have a chance to see this small island nation for what
it truly is. In my mind Saipan is a paradox of our creator.

“I will Ted. Paradox? How?”

On the one hand you will see the island as a tropical paradise or at
least an oasis for the modern times that we live in, not unlike Hawaii,
while on the other hand it was the scene of atrocities and a tragedy
that were committed on a scale that is impossible for me to describe
or to comprehend. I do not mean to say that to undermine the horror
and the atrocities that were committed in Europe during World War
Two. No, but the terror that was the Battle of Saipan, as part of the
America’s war in the Pacific, was more in your face war fighting. It
was up close and personal. Its impact affected every one of us who
were involved in it…differently and personally. It was traumatic in
every sense of the word. It was a shock. It belied our beliefs and sense
of righteousness. It became a nightmarish facet of our existence. The
tragedy that was Saipan was the extent to which the human condition
can fall when evil is allowed to set its course. Even to this day, Jim,
some thirty years on, it galls me and plays on my conscience. I have
nightmares just thinking about it.

“Jeez Ted, what are you getting at here?”

For me Jim, Saipan represents not just a loss of my youthful exuberance
and innocence but also a loss of confidence and faith in the human
condition. Added to all of that, I lost some very good friends there,
one in particular. I almost lost the love of my life too, indirectly. You
see Jim, sadly, tragically, at such a young age, with the loss of my leg,
I became cynical about life itself, human nature and the limitless
capacity of my fellow human beings to inflict untold misery, cruelty
and suffering on one another. My heart became hardened.

“Mother of God Ted, I am so sorry.”

It is probably difficult for you to see this now but Saipan in those days
was a world of military fanaticism, of martial madness and of sheer
dread. At its very core life on Saipan was underscored by an oppressor
who ruled with the mindful and purposeful contempt for all that
was good and sacred in this world of ours. Honor, above all else, was
sacrosanct to them. Arrogance was a welcomed trait. Cruelty was
commonplace. Life was cheap. The military rulers of Saipan could
not understand compliance. Surrender was not in their lexicon. They
had no respect for a defeated or conquered people. Surrendering
without death was cowardice to them and was an anathema to their
code of conduct: their Bushido Code – or Bullshit Code as I called it.
Thus, the citizenry of Saipan, by their mere survival, had no human
rights in the eyes of their conquerors. They lived their lives under a
yoke of military oppression and disgust. They were considered lowlife
and dogs by their military masters. Yet unquestionable loyalty to a
foreign deity was demanded of them. Allegiance and devotion were
expected to this foreign icon that was not of the spiritual form in the
traditional supernatural sense but of a human physical stature and
nature…in other words, their Emperor was considered a living gawd.

“Unbelievable Ted. I never knew this.”

The military presence that ruled Saipan in those days ruled by fear.
They were fanatical in their beliefs and demanded the same from the
Chamorro people and the Korean slave labor. To do otherwise meant
untold suffering or certain death. Not surprisingly Jim, over time, the
oppressed people of Saipan adapted and became dependent upon the
military dictatorship for their subsistence, for their security, for their
survival. Ultimately, they were brainwashed. They were brainwashed
into thinking that their military masters had their best interests at
heart. But they were also brainwashed against the very people who
were committed to their liberation and freedom. Us! Consequently Jim,
it was very difficult for us as liberators to undermine their mistrust of
us and of everything that America stood for.

Sitting with you, drinking Oly’s and chit chatting on those
numerous afternoons at the Ala Wai, was very enjoyable for me Jim
and I do not begrudge those moments for a minute.

Jim smiled at that memory.

I thank you for giving me the time of day. In a lot of respects, I saw
myself in you. I was jealous of your youth but for my lost youth. Your
exuberance, your wonderful naivety and your boundless energy took
me back to a time where my own innocence and sense of invincibility
fostered. I possessed some sensitivity in those days Jim and a
vulnerability that many would perceive as a weakness, especially as a
Marine. I didn’t look at it that way. I viewed these traits as strength
for I saw the beauty in all living things and had empathy in spades to
do what I thought was right. I possessed faith in a higher power. I had
faith in God. I guess I was a sensitive soul.

Read about the Battle of Saipan in my book Kurofune, or Jim’s adventure in Red Jewel. For more information on these and other books see the links at the top of the page. They are all available through Amazon.com or Amazon.ca

                                      www.johnmorrisonauthor.com

 

 

We’re All Going To Die

 

                                      www.johnmorrisonauthor.com

 

All available through Amazon.com or Amazon.ca. Support a struggling Canadian author. Real cheap but great reads. Check out the links at the top of the page for more information about these books.

This was taken from a Canadian immigration website!

Image for article: UK Police Release Updated Chart Showing Who You’re Allowed To Be Racist Against

Hey, we’re here for ya Canada.

Weather map of Lake Erie: Alert…warning! Lake Erie is warming. It is like bathwater.

Lake Huron Weather © - Lake Erie Water Temperatures

Warning! Alert. Soon Lake Erie will be like a Hot Tub if we don’t stop using fossil fuels! So say our climate ex…pervs.

Car parked by Lake Erie is completely frozen - CNN Video

Oops, wrong photo. Lake Erie in winter.

It is getting warmer and hotter, Lake Erie is. So say our weather witches.

Lava Flow | Iceland | Timm Chapman Photography

Wow! Can you believe these guys? Not me.

Or how about this from our weather fanatics:

Image

It used to be red. Now its ashen grey to illustrate the deadly effects of climate change.

Not scared enough. Well, how about those deadly nor’easters?

Cambridge weather: Storm Dennis explodes into 'bomb cyclone' - this is what that means ...

It’s Armageddon and were all going to die. Yes we are Virginia but not from the brew of the weather witches.

Univershity?….no thanks.
“There is a clear and present freakout going on right now. I’ve heard from six governors in the last six months. I’ve heard from the heads of major companies.”
And it gets weirder!
“Suspected YVR (Vancouver Airport) hijacker claimed to be ‘messenger of Allah’ sent to ‘save humanity from climate change,’” (Jarryd Jäger, Western Standard, July 17, 2025):
But…but…but
Wouldn’t it be “Islamophobic” to doubt him? Canadian authorities under the authority of “Islamophobia” czar Amira Elghawaby should order the relevant officials to apologize for arresting this hero.
Given that this is Canada, they will!
And in  related elbows up and we’re not the 51st state here in Canada news because were not American BS comes this:
American fighter planes scramble to intercept the hijacker over Vancouver – Canadian airspace.
The Canadian Airforce was busy pressing their new sky-blue uniforms for their new planes.
Meme Maker - Canadian Airforce Meme Generator!
And….they could not get their fighters off the ground…

June is over!

Don’t ya just love them Liberals, especially Chrystia Freelunch.

I’m so proud! Give me a kiss!

I am not a whatever-phobe but why oh why do we have to be reminded that we have to support or tolerate this lifestyle for a whole month (the entire summer in Canada). Be whoever you are, be proud of it, but leave the rest of us who are not LGBTQ out of it. Just go your own way, and like the rest of us, be quiet about your nature.

Shakeyjay is out of here.

Red Jewel: The Dart

 

Red Jewel

 

An excerpt from “Red Jewel.” It is available on Amazon.com or Amazon.ca.

Classic sailing yacht

 

“Ruth and I grew closer and closer as the months turned into years. Often times we would go out on the Dart in “Lilly” and explore the area stopping from time to time on a bank of cool grass upriver a way. We talked…erm…she talked of many things.  She was a young woman now. Gone were the boyish locks. Her hair now fell to her shoulders, fashionably coifed with natural curls that were interspersed and intertwined within wave upon wave of strawberry blond tresses that were particularly radiant in the afterglow of a late afternoon sun. Her complexion was flawless and was all the more exotic and welcoming by just a hint of makeup. She was naturally beautiful. Well proportioned, athletic, strong. Her breasts were mature and full, not large, just perfect for her physical size.  She had her mother’s eyes I was told. Hazel green for the most part with the slightest touch of grey and an intimation of violet if the sunlight graced her features just so. You could almost detect the coloured hint of violet in a surprise reflective measure of sunlight only to lose sight of it on closer inspection.

“Whaaaat” she would say, teasingly, as my gaze burrowed into her eyes.

“Your eyes Ruth.” I thought they to be green, hazel perhaps, but just then I could detect some violet. Violet, for heaven’s sake?”

“My eyes are green Nigel Filtness.” she laughed as if she needed to scold me, turn me straight. “Maybe a tad hazel but green predominantly.”

Predominantly…predominantly? She had a better way with words than I will ever have. Her diction and enunciation were precise, flawless really, unlike the guttural slang that came out of my mouth. I was intimidated by her yet she never belittled me.

“I like you Nigel Filtness.” she would announce, as if she was my queen and I her peon…jester. “King….Nigel”, never the Queen. I may be female but I would be KING of all of England, and Wales, maybe Scotland, Ireland perhaps. No, no never Scotland as I can never understand the brogue there.” She giggled. “But Ireland? Ah, the land of song, poetry, romance and tragedy. Oh forlorn and suffering, tragic Ireland be: the Emerald Isle.

“Ireland?” I would ask of her as I lay on my back, my eyes closed, the sun high in the sky but on with its western slide.

“Yes Ireland Nigel” she sat there, smiling, as if pleased with her own insight, sitting as she was with her legs flat out across the grass in front of her with her arms back and to her sides holding her up. “Yes Ireland Nigel, the land of Yeats, of Shaw, of Oscar Wilde…”

“Oh the “poofter” I interjected.

Not saying a word she looked down at me with a scorn that could mortally wound.

“Of Oscar Wilde, Joyce, Michael Collins…” she paused and sighed a long passionate sounding sigh…of the revolutionaries, 1916 Ireland with Padraigh Pearse…”

“Who?” I countered.

“Padraigh Pearse Nigel. Padraigh was an Irish romantic: a poet, scholar, barrister, revolutionary of the 1916 Irish Rebellion. He was a tragic figure – a naive Irish ideologue hero. He was executed as one of the Irish rebels of the Easter Riots.”

“Oh, you don’t say” was about all I could say. I felt extremely low intellectually whenever I was with Ruth.

Nevertheless Ruth and I became inseparable. “Lilly” and “Lillian” were our common thread; our common bond; and our common love for sailing. Soon, the intricacies of Lillian’s unique gaff rig configuration became second nature to both of us. We knew “Lillian’s” quirks like the backs of our palms. It was not long before Mr Sommers had full confidence in both of us. And before long it was not an unusual sight for the Dartmouth and Kingswear sailing community to recognize us both for what we were: respected local seafarers. “Lillian,” and us, became synonymous with the regulars of the sailing community, particularly those members of the Royal Dartmouth Yacht Club, of which Mr Sommers was a lifetime member, as an icon of the Dart maritime environment. Even the Royal Naval College took note of us, particularly Petty Officer Brand.”

It was fun researching and writing this book. Sailors and non sailors alike will enjoy this story.

Quote of the week!

What happens when banks lose your money?

They charge you a finder’s fee of course.

Shakeyjay is out.

The Rideau

From my book of poems:

Available on Amazon.com or Amazon.ca.

The Rideau Canal

 

A curtain does fall so majestic and proud

Such a natural wonder, so gracious a shroud

Like a powerful train of glory descends

As a continuous fall at the Outaouais end

 

A fire alights from the south it did spread

To the north like a plague through its heart it has bled

With a mawkish like cry for freedom and joy

But freedom’s best chance was a fraudulent ploy

 

From a flicker of flame to a firestorm bred

Death escalates through a life cycle of dread

And taming this shrew with its penchant for blood

Was a foolish man’s bait for poor Madison’s club

 

Yet a fire would spread in a harrowing scene

From a spark it would roar with a devilish scream

From Niagara on east, to a Forty Mile Creek

To a nondescript farm and a Chateauguay sneak

 

From Queenstown to Lundy, Detroit and the Thames

The Boxer and Enterprise, surrender of Maine

Through Ohio and Plattsburg, to a Moravian town

The war it did rage for Miss Liberty’s crown

 

Cities would fall and the towns they would burn

First Newark then York; it was Washington’s turn

War’s firebrand eyes thrust farther to yield

And finally burn in an Orleans field

 

What came but a draw in this foolish man’s quest?

For power and glory are such meaningless guests

Whatever the gain from the lives that were lost

For the hawkish bent men who lied at great cost

 

And the curtain still fell, so majestic and proud

As if sensing the chaos, so soothing its sound

Like the rapturous strains of a torrent, transcends

To emerge as a call at the Outaouais end

***

The years fell away and the anger did wane

Rush-Baggot had calmed such a petulant strain

An American age brought prosperity’s peace

As a confidant pace of change was unleashed

 

But the land to the north so upright and proud

Was paranoid still to the south’s freedom sound

A country that cried for security’s calm

Yet stands all alone ‘gainst a threatening psalm

 

But this land full of lakes and rivers and streams

Was a natural course for a military dream

For fear set in stride a magnificent quest

To build a canal that was strategically blessed

 

While the mighty St Laurence was a natural draw

It was fraught with real danger from its rapid rock falls

And upstream it ran with a thunderous roar

Too close to the south with its threatening core

 

The Ottawa ran to St Laurence’s call

To strike from the north and a western landfall

An historical route that opened the west

Where the traders would meet at the curtain for rest

 

Two rivers did run from a common high ground

To the south and the north from Lake Rideau their sound

From the shallows and falls through the marshes and swamps

From King’s town to Wright’s town, two rivers as one

 

To build a canal through this wilderness screams

Of a madness and curse of the military’s dream

A task so immense, so daunting and brash

That only the British could fathom this task

 

But the British did find a man of the Corp

A Wellington man from the Peninsular War

A man who had held the Canadian Shield

So right for this task with indefatigable zeal

 

John By was a Colonel and a leader of men

Ahead of his time and a genius, well bred

An engineer’s man with a passionate streak

For simplicity’s beauty with its functional tweaks

 

With orders to build a navigable path

From the Outaouais south to Ontario’s wrath

To rise from a bay named the Entrance – way crept

Up flight after flight, like some nautical step

 

A plan was developed and contracts were signed

Engineering so simple with symmetrical lines

Pure genius at work with a heavenly hand

To guide and instruct a magnanimous man

 

With Drummond and Redpath, Phillips, MacKay

Canadian contractors, strong men of their day

These artists of stone were men of their word

So forthright and loyal to the Colonel’s accord

 

The sappers and miners and mason’s stones lay

Stonecutters and woodmen, all of the trades

For comfort, their spirit; their love of the crown

Romantic and colourful, these men of the realm

 

But the marvelous work that was soon to unfold

Was dependent upon the poor labourer’s code

The back wrenching work to clear out the land

And dig such a ditch with just spades in their hands

 

Such men from hard times, forever were cursed

To fight for survival and work through their thirst

Through backbreaking strains as their calloused hands scream

As they toiled and they toiled for this military dream

 

The Frenchmen held sway with their skill and savvy

So noble these men and their role as navvies

Independent of mind with a will to succeed

Just pride in their work and their songs and their deeds

 

But an Irishman’s fate to arrive at this place

To rescue one’s life from some wretched like fate

The scourge of the earth in the Englishman’s eye

Forgotten at home, they severed all ties

 

For a pestilence spread to drive them afar

From an emerald isle to this devil’s back yard

Though beauty may rest on the eye from beyond

A hellish nightmare was reality’s song

 

Just rags on their backs with their wives by their side

With children so weak from starvation and pride

A thousand would fall from a dengueish like hue

And die from this work’s laborious flu

 

Poor brothers would cry as their graves had been marked

So blind to the danger and the peril from sparks

As the powder was set with a magical link

Their lives were extinguished from the death blast’s cruel drink

 

Yet the lakes and the streams, swift water, rock falls

Were captured and tamed by this engineer’s call

Magnificent feats what By had achieved

In this harsh, hellish wilderness was hard to conceive

 

The entrance way blessed by a protestant prayer

The first stone was set by John Franklin with care

Not mindful as yet that his greatness was cast

To die in the Arctic from an arctic cold blast

 

The curse of Hog’s Back; an Isthmus scourge

The tranquility of Chaffey’s; Long Island was purged

At Burritt’s and Black, these rapids were tamed

And Merrickville’s beauty, a religious refrain

 

With names like Poonamalie, with its cedar incense

An Indian aura in a wilderness sense

Opinicon’s names and a Cranberry fog

The curse of the labourer to die in this bog

 

The dam at the falls known locally as Jones

Is a testament still to its magnificent stone

Block upon block in a crescent like stance

Like a rampart of genius or an engineer’s dance

 

The work underway, six years to progress

The locks were completed and the dams were well dressed

Through steamy hot summers, through sweat and death’s fear

Through winter’s ice jams; hell’s nightmare those years

 

The locks and the dams, wastewater and weirs

The cut at the entrance, eight steps to the piers

The breadth of this work remains unfathomable, sealed

As a masterpiece set in the Canadian Shield

***

The threat from the south was all but contained

For the status quo boundary was all that was gained

From the firestorm set in those years long ago

Extinguished for good as a friendship would grow

 

Poor tragedy’s mark on this cornerstone lay

On the heart of a man who held the Rideau at bay

Called back by a King who questioned his deed

A question of funds from some zealot to heed

 

An inquiry would set the tone through the years

To diminish By’s feats; he was ignored by his peers

His spirit would die from his countrymen’s chill

And not from the bog or the Isthmus ills

 

Yet his legacy flows for our nation to see

A wonderment still, a magnificent deed

To balance such beauty with a functional stream

Through a Canadian wilderness with just minimal means

 

But the jewel in the crown of this engineer’s quest

Was not the canal or a technical best

For a town had been born in the Outaouais scene

In this land full of lakes and rivers and streams

 

By the Barracks Hill shanty near the Sapper’s stone bend

A magnificent tower of peace would ascend

From a lower town swamp to an upper town’s view

A great city would grow with great values imbued

 

For this capital’s crown of achievement remains

From the peaceful green flow of the Rideau, contained

The seeds of a city and a national theme

To build a great country with the freedom to dream

 

And the curtain still falls, so majestic and proud

Like a sentinel’s call or a passionate bow

For the genius who toiled on the Outaouais scene

And left such a mark with this beautiful stream

 

Old British Admirals, by Al Stewart

Admiral John (Jackie) Fisher. Father of the Dreadnaught

When Britain had an empire, of which Colonel By was part of. Play this loud.

Old style marching brass band.

Have a great Navy day.

I am 74 today. Wow, it just seems like yesterday I was 73!

Shakeyjay…..out!