here’s a nice winter scene of the East Ferry looking North
Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
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Excellence is its own reward!
"The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit.
The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are."
--Marcus Aurelius
sure, the more the merrier !
here's the East Passage looking NE... from Walcott AveMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
and House on the Rocks looking to Ft. Adams from the top of the Round HouseMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
I wonder who they get to mow their lawn!.
Excellence is its own reward!
Someone did this after 9-11
and it's still standing!
Our local memorial..
Excellence is its own reward!
wow... someone did a great job on the twinsMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
It's a unique location called the narrows. The rich generally live down island and the rest of us generally live up island. The narrows is a neck of land with a salt marsh to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. In ultra high tides it can be wet there.
This island is almost two islands and it used to be that after a storm they might be for awhile, 'till the State hauled in a few loads of granite culls for a seawall. Every summer, one pile of practice rubble after another arises in various shapes to be torn down again and rebuilt in another form.
Nobody touches these!
Just like America, they remain..
Excellence is its own reward!
This one is as local as they get, Mike!
Done by the daughter, herself.
.
Excellence is its own reward!
piffen, is that your college girl you were braggin on last year ? (deservedly so ! )...
who'd a thot mugs like us could have a couple beauties ? .. go figger Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Must be something in the water!
LOL.
Excellence is its own reward!
Zero degrees this morning.. long cold spell....the West Passage has a lot of ice on it..
here's 3 scenes of the "Creek" which is all tidal...
Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
I'm suprised you've got that much ice way down south there, facing the gulf current and all.
I should remember to take the camera out. Where I drove past the beach today, we had 6" thick salt water pans shoved up on top of each other by the wind. IMO, the only reason the bay here isn't freezing up is that we've had steady wind for the past two weeks since this cold snap started. Six below last night and near zero now..
Excellence is its own reward!
Narrows bridge Tacoma WashingtonBob
"Rather be a hammer than a nail"
Show 'em the other half, Bob.
Hey Piffin, Mike, great shots. Nothing like salt water, huh?
OK Jim here is the other half. heheheheheBob
"Rather be a hammer than a nail"
Here is the whole bridge.
Seattle from Elliot Bay
Seattle from lake unionBob
"Rather be a hammer than a nail"
Are you all out there willing to let ONE more person relocate to your beautiful part of the world?"Her own mother lived the latter years of her life in the horrible suspicion that electricity was dripping invisibly all over the house."-????
Come on over Theodora - We still have room for another car on the road, but you better hurry, Seattle is not a well kept secret anymore.Bob
"Rather be a hammer than a nail"
Thanks for the pix. It's funny, when I saw the footage of the Tacoma Narrows bridge collapsing, for some reason I thought the bridge was much shorter than your picture shows. Was that bridge built in the same spot the old one was, or in a wider part of the river? Just wondering...
TIA
Here's what the cold looks like here lately. What you can't tell from the photo is what I know from swimming here in summer and being familiar with the beach - the 6" thick ice cakes nearest the lense are piled up on top of each other about eight feet deep by the wind shoving them in on the tide for the last couple weeks..
Excellence is its own reward!
View Image
Piffin - I thought salt water couldn't freeze. What's up with that? Brrrrrrrrrrr, too frikkin' cold for these old bones.
Cloud - can I come build on the site you took that photo from? Just for a while even? Beautiful. Where the heck is that?
>Cloud - can I come build on the site you took that photo from? Just for a while even? Beautiful. Where the heck is that?
Nope, can't build here...that's from my front porch. But you and Kathy can visit and bend an elbow if you're ever in the area.
Tell that to polar bears in the Arctic!
I think the deal is that salt just lowers the freezing point several degrees. I know rock salt on my entry walk doesn't do much when it gets below about fifteen degrees. Calcium or magnesium crystals work to colder temperatures..
Excellence is its own reward!
right up the hill from the creek and the baitshop is windmill hill.. with our fully restored windmill.... and then a view looking down the hill across the creek to the Newport Bridge againMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Mike, great windmill pic. We got a foot of snow on Friday. Here's a picture of our town's windmill and a picture of Nauset lighthouse.
If ignorance is bliss then apathy is sheer heaven...
something about the snow and the light puts it all in a new perspective...
great windmill....
saw another shingle fish the other day... didn't have my camera.. not nearly as great as yours.. but a good one anywaysMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Yea, if you ever have a chance to take a picture of that fish I'd like to see it. I've written a short article on how I did my fish and submitted it to FHB but haven't heard back from them yet.
Here's a picture from this morning's daily drive with the dogs. We all complain about working in the cold. Check this guy out (middle of the picture). The thermometer said 23 F.
If ignorance is bliss then apathy is sheer heaven...
her's another of Ft. Wetherill... looking across the divers cove to Beavertail..
and another view of the House ona Rock from the Dumplings looking to Ft. AdamsMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Great shot of the windmill Roder. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!Bob
"Rather be a hammer than a nail"
Piffin,
I saw an interesting show on the history channel on ice breaking ships, and how they can run into the problems with situations such as you described, wind blow ice piling up on top of the the surface ice.
Anway getting to my point, just wondering if you guys have to have ice breaking ships clear paths into the bay or harbor in the winter?
Since I've lived here, the wind and tides manage to keep it pretty well broken up. About seven years ago, the temps got down to minus fifteen to twenty degrees for a couple weeks and it froze over to the next island solid - a couple hundred yards.
There are three times in the last century when it froze the bay all the way over to the mainland (three miles and more). I think it was 1908, 1913, and 1917.
It is generally assumed that the Coast Gaurd would put their ships into play if we needed things openned up..
Excellence is its own reward!
Just wanted to make sure you weren't in any danger of getting cut off from the rest of the civilized world :P
Not as long as BT exists and I stay out of the Tavern...LOL.
Actually, when it froze over, there are stories of people taking horse teams over for supplies. Last time the coves in close froze, there were motorcycles and snowmobiles out on it.
Excellence is its own reward!
Edited 2/1/2003 5:07:42 PM ET by piffin
the east passage to Narragansett Bay is about 1/2 mile across..... with a military fort on each side... Fort Adams in Newport... and Ft. Wetherill in Jamestown..
my wife's uncle was a doughboy in the coastal artillery in WWI, stationed at Ft. Wetherill... the supply boat would make a daily trip for rations ..until the winter of 1917... when the passage froze clear thru to china..
so they sent teams across the ice for the ration detail.... her uncle had a million stories... all good onesMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
here's the Newport Bridge.... from Jamestown's East Ferry..Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
and if you look at your State US quarter collection.... look at the Rhode Island quarter...
there is a bridge, a 12 meter sailboat and in the foreground is Jamestown....
here is the same scene without the sailboat......Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Where the heck are all the pirates?
pirates, what chu talkin 'bout , willis ?
the only pirates around now call themselves contractorsMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
I thought Rouges Island was famous as a haven for pirates? Where they at? The state isn't big enough to take that many photos and not see at least one or two peeking about, is it?
Walk into any restaurant and you'll see the local pirate standing behind the cash register!
The best thing I remember about RI is the food! That and it seems like everyone looks descended from Portugese or Greek fishermen..
Excellence is its own reward!
Lot of surly lookin' guys wearin' eye patches swaggerin' around?
On Rouges Island I'd expect to see a lot of painted ladies walking around.
Yes Ron the new bridge was built in the same place. It spans a body of salt water called Puget Sound. The reason the old bridge collapsed was because it did not allow enough wind to pass through the span that the cars drove on.
Sorry to take so long to answer, I've been in Portland Oregon this weekend. Bob
"Rather be a hammer than a nail"
Just down the road from the good old Taunton Press.
Great shots CsmartBob
"Rather be a hammer than a nail"
Nice shot dude, looks like the guys just hangin in there.
Did those guys lose something? Why the heck are they going down that ice?
hey, where is that ?... my brother lives on Huntingtown Rd..
were you one of the climbers ?
Hmmm... that's a tough one to disclose Mike. I'll send that as a private message (don't want a stampeed... but to be honest, this warm spell has most likely been damaging to the ice). It only forms on the coldest of winters (the last time was three years ago). The climber in red is me and the one in blue (can you spot him?) is a secret Taunton employee... 'nuff said.
Edited 2/3/2003 10:30:36 PM ET by CSMART01
i saw the blue guy.. i thot he was the red guy hanging on his ropes too long.......kinda a before & after
nice day yesterday.. up on a roof with a nice view...
here's another of the Newport Bridge...
and looking across East Passage, over the House on a Rock to Ft. Adams..
Ahhh the Newport Bridge. My company designed it (before my time) and still has regular maintenance inspection contracts on it. The only away-from-home inspection job that gets volunteers beating at the PM's door....that's not a mistake, it's rustic
Hey, when's the Newport Jazz Festival? Must be in summer, huh?
aye , maties .... young jim blodgett has the watermelon fever !
Hey Mike,
Thanks for the pics. I lived in Nwpt for 5 years and I miss it every day. There is a fort (I can't remember the name) in Jamestown where you can jump off the cliffs into the bay. What is the name? Any pics?
Are there any plans to take down the old bridge? It sure has been a while since the new one was open. What a ride it was over that old bridge. I never trusted it but liked to stick my head out the window and look down through the metal grate that was the surface and look through to the water.
Anyway, enjoy you live in one of the most beautiful areas I know of.
Brian P.It's my job!
Fort Wetherill... it's a state park.. diving schools from all over the east coast bring their students there..
the new governor may get something done about the old bridge.. i hope they keep the flat 1000 ' on the west end as a public fishing pier.. but the NIMBY's don't want the poah people parking their cars anywhere's around...
stop in the next time you come thruMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Hi Brian,
Ft. Wetherill is the place you're thinking of. Went diving at Kings Beach last year, then went to the Fort Wetherill area to check it out. A bunch of young fellas were jumping off the cliffs , keeping a eye out for the local police, they said it was illegal. Sure looks like fun. If I was a few years younger, no responsibilities ...........
There was one hell of a kite flying demo going on at the point. Incredible! Never knew there was actually kite clubs? The purple bear you see in the pic was probably 30 ' long!
Anyway, thought these pics might bring ya back to a fun time.
Rod
Geez, I didn't realize the pics were gonna be so small. Let me try this one.
much better on the kites..
your Kings Park Beach looks like you caught a foggy day....directly across to the right is the old gas works.. when we were kids... Kings Park was slums and the water was pretty polluted... nice improvement , huh ?
Mike,
Very nice improvement yes! It was a bit of a foggy day, but once you're in the water.............................
We got there a few hours before slack tide so we went on a tour of one of the mansions. Talk about the lap of luxury! Did you know that on average there were 4 employees per family member! 4 to 1!
We are going back this summer. Right off Kings Beach there is a small island, (not really an island, kinda like a big group of rocks), where tropical fish tend to gather. Something to do with the Gulf coast flow, and temperature of water. People actually catch some tropicals and sell them to pet stores. No, not me. I'm purely an observationist.
All in all, I had agreat day in Newport, and I'm looking forward to going back for a day. Can't imagine what the traffic would be like during the festivals.
Rod
Thanks Rod,
I'm no dare devil. Those cliffs are pretty safe compared to some of the places we used to jump. There are some places on the Cliff Walk, Ocean Drive, and out at Elephant Rock (near second Beach), that are really hairy. You have to time your launch with incoming waves. Then you get sucked out with the under toe. When you surface your 20-30 ft. further into the ocean than where you landed. Oh. the good old days.
Cheers
Brian P.
It's my job!
If you climb you might want to get together with me this spring and climb the Gunks up in New Paltz NY.....
Nice shots.havent done ice yet but certainly the rocks.
Be agile
Namaste
andy"Attachment is the strongest block to realization"http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
That doesnt happen to be the bridge that replaced the Tacoma narrows bridge is it?
Yes it is the bridge that replaced galloping girdey. They are going to build another bridge along side of this one that won't even be close to a match.tThe new bridge will look real modern. I think they should match but the State didn't ask for my opinion.Bob
"Rather be a hammer than a nail"
Theres something about older style bridges they just look better astetically in nature in my opinion
Modern bridges are fine, but put them in a city enviornment where they fit the rest of the architecture
It will look odd to have one older bridge and one modern bridge right next to each other, but hey what do I know
So that's what it looks like. I've driven over the Narrows bridge before, but I can't claim to have seen it.Andy Engel, The Former Accidental Moderator
What?........... You were that close to my place and you didn't stop buy for an Alaskan Amber?Bob
"Rather be a hammer than a nail"
Next time Bob. I was probably on my way to SeaTac and wouldn't have had time anyway.
Andy Engel, The Former Accidental Moderator
We had a pretty good snowfall early this week. The first estimate for Cape Cod was 2 to 6 inches. That kept increasing and by the end we had 18 to 24 inches. Here are a few pictures after the storm and some of Cape Cod Bay (from First Encounter Beach) this morning.
If ignorance is bliss then apathy is sheer heaven...
Mike- How far down in the ground does the ice go there? Man, you have no snow cover and it's hitting 0 for how long? Serious stuff!!Half of good living is staying out of bad situations.
The other...proper application of risk.
frost design level is 40".... but if it's down 24" i'd be surprisedMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Except where wind blew it off, we're still good. I drove stakes yesterday. Bare ground was a bear to get into with steel stakes. Where I drove through the foot to 18" of snow, it was barely frosted on top. Plunk and it was in..
Excellence is its own reward!
in keeping with the water theme - Lake Michigan at Good Hart -
taking it down another level - Lukens Lake - local glacial pothole -
that's the same glacial formation as Cape Cod.. all of the ponds (lakes ) are where the big chunks of ice were left in the midst of the glacial outwashMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
First try with Irfanview. Thanks, Piffin.
Is that a pinhole image ?
Is that a pirate behind those rocks ?
Quittin' Time
Yeah, pinhole R us. I'm not sure if you could call her a pirate...but she did steal my heart. You survive the floods up there?
here's 3 of Beavertail Light.... 3d oldest light on the east coast..... out past that is Africa.....less you count Block Island..Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
and here's a carriage house... i've lived here since '54.. never saw this until they cut the hedges last summer... look at the stone and brickwork detail......Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
in '89 they opened the new Jamestown Bridge from North Kingstown...they left the old one up because they didn't have enough money to take it down...
during high school i used to work on the old one, on the high piers, doing concrete repairsMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
and from between the two bridges... then from Sheffield Cove looking northMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Nice, Mike. Great looking carriage house.
Here's one from the sleepy left coast.
The reminded me of the movie signs
put this in the wrong place earlier...prob. should go here bouts. This is a pic of the "old home place" Taken summer of '81 or '82.
Something that was kind of nice to catch a glimpse of today.
For me, at least. The girls all stayed indoors, or under cover all day. LOL
In the center of the picture, you can barely see a bald eagle. It is sitting at the very top of a tree that is right opn the far bank of the river.
Sorry about the quality of the picture. I took this pic from my porch.
Quittin' Time
March 2, 2003...some have snow, some have a balmy 80 degrees and sunshine....
In the Maritime Pacific Northwest, Spring is starting to happen!
Lucky dogView ImageGo Jayhawks
What are those pink little things on the second picture? OH flowers! I almost forgot what they look like:-) Thanks for reminding me.Tamara
Cool !!
Meams that in about two weeks I should start seeing that stuff.
: )
Quittin' Time
Actually, things are even a little early for here, it's been such a mild winter. And the Hummingbirds love that Currant! Sounded like a swarm of bees earlier in the afternoon.
I'm still getting very cold winds coming down off the mountain.
I can actualy smell the snow on those winds.
But I'll be seeing the trilliums and such here pretty soon, I believe.
Quittin' Time
that's the same glacial formation as Cape Cod..
ya - we're located 6 miles south of the southern-most glacial potholes - - used to be small ones within a mile, but have been drained for ag - - 2 mile south is outwash plain - flat cornfields like the state is stereotyped -
here's a picture from a mile west of us - steel bridge over Paw-Paw creek -
Great looking bridge, David. Nice photo.
here's a blast from the past - went to a program today about the RR that used to run thru here (Eel River RR) - bridges were a part, of course, which sent me to the family ablums - here's a group on the road bridge in Chili IN (chi - li, long i's, equal accent on both sylables, don't know how to make the pronunciation symbols) with the RR bridge partly visible in the back ground - looks like the county got a deal on those arched steel bridges - - grandfather is the third from the right -
sorry about the size, still haven't figured this program out - there is some text toward the bottom of the photo -
great pic, dave...Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
thanks for your photos, also - - I enjoy the little trips they take me on - or should I say 'on which they take me' - - DOUD
Lake Superior sunsets. First one is a early spring photo second is late winter looking north across the ice.
I love those old b+w photos, man. Studying railroads is a great window into our history here in North America, I love it. Out here in the Pacific NW it's the logging railroads, but my father was a model railroader back East and I was always more interested in the history more than the railroads themselves.
We cross railroad tracks whenever we go into town and every time I think about hiking the old railroad grades. Imagine the places you'd travel? All at 3% grade or less? Cool stuff.
That guy looks a little young to be a grandfather.
Jim,
I know what you mean, I have been a rail fan all my life, railroads were my first love. My dad worked as a fireman on steam from 45 to 52. The earliest childhood memory I have is of him reaching down and pulling me up into the cab of his locomotive. My mother claims I could not have been much more than 3 at the time. Maybe that's where it all started, I always make a point when I travel to scout out rail activity. Glacier Nat. Park has some pretty cool scenery along the tracks, spent many hours hiking the right of way.
Armin- If you ever take an east coast trip you'll have to stop at New Hampshire's White Mountains. There is an old steam passenger train you can take to the highest point which is up there where only the lichen grows. Half of good living is staying out of bad situations.
The other...proper application of risk.
the miller's house is right next door to the windmill..
the current owner is a little whimsical.. here's the shingle detail on his gable endMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Great looking windmill and very cool detail on the siding of the house
What the heck does that guy do for water power and sewer on top of a rock?Bob
"Rather be a hammer than a nail"
town water & a septic system ....... believe it or not...sells live bait & live lobsters spring to fallMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
One from the top of Whiteface Mountain's (our local ski hill) gondola taken last week, and the other when enroute to Burlington, VT, via ferry, taken yesterday. The Grande Isle Ferry, running between Cumberland Head, NY, and South Hero Island, VT, is running three boats nonstop round the clock to keep the ice of northern Lake Champlain clear enough for navigation. It is a noisy ride through the floating chunks!
I've got U all beat.
oooooh.. kissed by a dawwwg !Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
That's a ROAR! Best of the day.Half of good living is staying out of bad situations.
The other...proper application of risk.
Jim, great shot. Is that one of them mountain dogs?
Here's a pic of me and my puppies. A couple of Aussies with attitude!
If ignorance is bliss then apathy is sheer heaven...
my brother has the twin to the one on the left.... another aussie... that dog raised two of his girlsMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Is that the standard 20 oz coffee for winter you're holding there?Half of good living is staying out of bad situations.
The other...proper application of risk.
Hey Roger, after you finish that coffee yer supposed to fall backwards and sweep your arms and legs back and forth to make an angle in the snow. Where is that?
Looks pretty and cold- Nice dogs
Here is a shot of Seattle from SomersetBob
"Rather be a hammer than a nail"
Pro, nice shot of Seattle. How come it isn't raining there? Or did you jusat touch up the picture? ;-)
Mike, the one on the left is Daisy (3 1/2 years). She was our first Aussie and we were so impressed we got the other on. Harley is 11 months. I can imagine that you bro's Aussie was great with the kids. Unlimited energy, smart, and protective. Plus they are just beautiful dogs.
Rez, yup, that's the "jumbo" coffee that I need to jump start the day. I get coffee and a donut and the dogs each get a donut hole.
If ignorance is bliss then apathy is sheer heaven...