Krypton Ice?
Night falls
Ice night
Ripples on a pond
Showing posts with label Newfoundland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Newfoundland. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Winter Seens III
Ahh, the freedom to do whatever you want. I think I'll do more of this. Winter seems harsh but not having freedom and democracy is harsher. More on this topic in the next blog posting. For now, just a few more captures of winter at Canada's most eastern 47th parallel.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Friday, August 10, 2007
A Snapshot of Rushoon, Newfoundland
Update (more pictures here from 2008). Also, click here to see a panoramic shot of Rushoon. It is still not the entire community but it will give you an idea of how the community looks from a different hilltop. Be sure to click the picture to enlarge it.
The town of Rushoon. The picture shows much of the place but the older part near the harbour is hidden behind the right hill. The name may have come from the French word "ruisseau", meaning stream.
The river runs parallel to the road winding through the community.
First settled around 1830 by a couple of fishermen from England, it gradually grew in size. By 1921 the population was 130, and swelled to 232 by 1945, a good reflection of healthy fish stocks, and source of reliable work. With the help of resettlement transplants in the 1960's from other Placentia Bay places, the population was over 500 in the 1970s. But in 1991, the population had declined to 482, 442 by 1996, and 359 by 2001. Last year, 2006, the number of "Rushoonites" was 319, an 11% drop from five years previous. (Here's a link to compare NL community population for 1991, 1996, and 2001 (NL Stats)).
For most of the 2oth century Placentia Bay was a thriving multi-lane seaway as fishermen from Rushoon and every other community traveled to their fishing grounds. People risked their lives at sea, worked hard in fish stages, farming, cutting firewood, and lumber, basically surviving. Young people also made huge contributions to family chores. One 90 year old woman recalls as a "tween" going to the frozen well and chopping through ice to get water for the household. It was expected. To name a few, other regular chores included gathering firewood, helping with fish by cleaning, carrying, salting, and spreading for drying, and planting/harvesting vegetables. For many years in the early 1900s, the nearby community of Baine Harbour had the school. Students walked a round trip of approximately 5-6 miles daily for schooling and they were often expected to bring junks of firewood for the pot belly stove.
Like many fishing communities, there were tragedies at sea. Having just swept through the Maritimes, and leaving 86 dead, and communications lines down,
The August Gale of 1927 gave no warning to people on Newfoundland's South coast. Of the 23 fishermen lost in Placentia Bay alone, three were from the tiny settlement of Rushoon.
(Rushoon harbour meeting Placentia Bay)
It was decades away from getting electricity. In fact, the first switch was pulled in 1967, and thus, the lantern was no longer a necessity, but more a museum piece. From the 1960s and 70s especially, more and more people left the island for work, usually to the mainland, and out West, working with the Canadian Pacific Railway. In 1980, another major tragedy rocked Rushoon. Seven young workers who worked with the CPR near Swift Current, SK were being transported on a bus back from a days work, when a collision occurred between the bus and a tanker carrying hot tar. Four of the seven were killed, including two brothers. Sudden grief devastated not only Rushoon but other surrounding communities.
In years since, fewer people were going away to work with the CPR. More and more people sought trades, certified skills, and university, and is has been a continuing trend for many years now.
Despite the life threatening work on the water, uninsulated homes, high infant mortality, and many other daily hardships of life, the community survived and even grew. Unfortunately the population trend is downward nowadays. Leaving home is a necessity for work, income and experience. Depending on the individual it may be ideal, or not. Though compared to leaving home for work on the sea, the risk is minimal.
Looking back at how communities came to be, it makes one appreciate the hard work ethic, the unbreakable spirit, the determination of generations gone by, and brings to mind the saying, where there's a will, there's a way.
The town of Rushoon. The picture shows much of the place but the older part near the harbour is hidden behind the right hill. The name may have come from the French word "ruisseau", meaning stream.
The river runs parallel to the road winding through the community.First settled around 1830 by a couple of fishermen from England, it gradually grew in size. By 1921 the population was 130, and swelled to 232 by 1945, a good reflection of healthy fish stocks, and source of reliable work. With the help of resettlement transplants in the 1960's from other Placentia Bay places, the population was over 500 in the 1970s. But in 1991, the population had declined to 482, 442 by 1996, and 359 by 2001. Last year, 2006, the number of "Rushoonites" was 319, an 11% drop from five years previous. (Here's a link to compare NL community population for 1991, 1996, and 2001 (NL Stats)).
For most of the 2oth century Placentia Bay was a thriving multi-lane seaway as fishermen from Rushoon and every other community traveled to their fishing grounds. People risked their lives at sea, worked hard in fish stages, farming, cutting firewood, and lumber, basically surviving. Young people also made huge contributions to family chores. One 90 year old woman recalls as a "tween" going to the frozen well and chopping through ice to get water for the household. It was expected. To name a few, other regular chores included gathering firewood, helping with fish by cleaning, carrying, salting, and spreading for drying, and planting/harvesting vegetables. For many years in the early 1900s, the nearby community of Baine Harbour had the school. Students walked a round trip of approximately 5-6 miles daily for schooling and they were often expected to bring junks of firewood for the pot belly stove.
Like many fishing communities, there were tragedies at sea. Having just swept through the Maritimes, and leaving 86 dead, and communications lines down,
The August Gale of 1927 gave no warning to people on Newfoundland's South coast. Of the 23 fishermen lost in Placentia Bay alone, three were from the tiny settlement of Rushoon. (Rushoon harbour meeting Placentia Bay)
It was decades away from getting electricity. In fact, the first switch was pulled in 1967, and thus, the lantern was no longer a necessity, but more a museum piece. From the 1960s and 70s especially, more and more people left the island for work, usually to the mainland, and out West, working with the Canadian Pacific Railway. In 1980, another major tragedy rocked Rushoon. Seven young workers who worked with the CPR near Swift Current, SK were being transported on a bus back from a days work, when a collision occurred between the bus and a tanker carrying hot tar. Four of the seven were killed, including two brothers. Sudden grief devastated not only Rushoon but other surrounding communities.
In years since, fewer people were going away to work with the CPR. More and more people sought trades, certified skills, and university, and is has been a continuing trend for many years now.
Despite the life threatening work on the water, uninsulated homes, high infant mortality, and many other daily hardships of life, the community survived and even grew. Unfortunately the population trend is downward nowadays. Leaving home is a necessity for work, income and experience. Depending on the individual it may be ideal, or not. Though compared to leaving home for work on the sea, the risk is minimal.
Looking back at how communities came to be, it makes one appreciate the hard work ethic, the unbreakable spirit, the determination of generations gone by, and brings to mind the saying, where there's a will, there's a way.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
The Next Time You Think the Weather is Bad Here
Then have a look at what the most recent tornado did to this Kansas town. It annihilated 95% of Greensburg. 
It's amazing anyone survived as some of the dead were found in rubble filled basements. We in Newfoundland and Labrador suffer through long and often brutal cold winters, and hopelessly dreary, lingering, cold, wet, windy springs, at least in St. John's (apart from that the weather couldn't be better). But we do not face the devastation suffered by states in tornado alley, or south-eastern seaboard states that get the brunt of hurricanes. Each time a big tornado or hurricane occurs it amounts to many $ billions worth in damages, not to mention the priceless lives that are taken. So far, there are 11 people confirmed dead in Greensburg. If you could put a town in a giant blender and set it to maximum, here is what it might look like. It looks like Hiroshima.
Like many I have complained about our weather, but when seeing and hearing about disasters like Greensburg, it helps put our place and weather in better perspective, and reminds me to appreciate this place. You can take any place in the world and find something positive and negative about it. We associate warmth with the southern U.S. People in the south may love non-winter like weather for much of the year, but they have to deal with nature's cruel force and destruction. It's like people living there have been gambling in a bizarre lotto - and the winners are the ones who lost everything but their lives. In fact it reminds me of a short story called The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. It's an inverted lottery in which the "winner" gets stoned to death, but year after year, the towns people gamble, knowing it could be anyone.
Unfortunately it is all too real and sad for the families of the eleven killed.
If anyone still thinks we have it bad, then have a look at this video footage of the damage in Kansas. With a risk of freezing rain and cool temperatures today I'll have no reason to complain.
It's amazing anyone survived as some of the dead were found in rubble filled basements. We in Newfoundland and Labrador suffer through long and often brutal cold winters, and hopelessly dreary, lingering, cold, wet, windy springs, at least in St. John's (apart from that the weather couldn't be better). But we do not face the devastation suffered by states in tornado alley, or south-eastern seaboard states that get the brunt of hurricanes. Each time a big tornado or hurricane occurs it amounts to many $ billions worth in damages, not to mention the priceless lives that are taken. So far, there are 11 people confirmed dead in Greensburg. If you could put a town in a giant blender and set it to maximum, here is what it might look like. It looks like Hiroshima.Like many I have complained about our weather, but when seeing and hearing about disasters like Greensburg, it helps put our place and weather in better perspective, and reminds me to appreciate this place. You can take any place in the world and find something positive and negative about it. We associate warmth with the southern U.S. People in the south may love non-winter like weather for much of the year, but they have to deal with nature's cruel force and destruction. It's like people living there have been gambling in a bizarre lotto - and the winners are the ones who lost everything but their lives. In fact it reminds me of a short story called The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. It's an inverted lottery in which the "winner" gets stoned to death, but year after year, the towns people gamble, knowing it could be anyone.
Unfortunately it is all too real and sad for the families of the eleven killed.
If anyone still thinks we have it bad, then have a look at this video footage of the damage in Kansas. With a risk of freezing rain and cool temperatures today I'll have no reason to complain.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
More Beautiful Places to Visit in Newfoundland & Labrador
| There are so many places all around the province that are interesting to visit just because of their natural beauty alone. In a February, 2007 blog I posted many other places worth seeing, and here are some more. Newfoundland and Labrador is an astounding province with an alluring variation of scenic coastlines, landscapes, bays, hills, waterfalls, and ruggedness. It is a hiker's paradise, and offers pristine areas of nature. It is ours to protect and yours to discover. | |||
Aviron Bay (South Coast) below These photos are not mine, but I will try to find the web source. | Red Rocks, West Coast | ||
Fraser River Canyon, Labrador | The only problem you might have is deciding what part of the island and Labrador to see first. The province is huge, so the best thing to do is get a map, study the regions, and places you want to visit, and set aside enough time to cover a number of places, or the number of things you want to do. You can certainly see alot in a week or two, but chances are, you'll want to come back. | ||
Links for Tourists
Hospitality Newfoundland & Labrador
Friday, February 02, 2007
Beautiful Places to Visit in Newfoundland & Labrador
Updated: click here for more posts with NL scenes.
(Note: to view the source of the photos, click the place names)
(Note: to view the source of the photos, click the place names)
| There are so many places all around the province that are interesting to visit just because of their natural beauty alone. In this blog you will find some places that don't get alot of exposure, and that's too bad, for tourists, and for ourselves. To see a beautiful place that we didn't know existed is an education, and it also gives one a sense of pride by knowing it's part of our province. Growing up in a small community I hiked to every hilltop just to see the beauty of the community valley, the river which ran through out to the harbour, and the spectacular view of the offshore islands sitting in Placentia Bay. see Rushoon below | |
The community of Rushoon, Burin Peninsula | Francois (South coast of Newfoundland) |
| We live in a hiker's paradise because there are so many accessible communities and towns that because of the reason for their existance in the first place, the fishery, are located next to harbours, inlets and bays, and hence had roads constructed to get there. Many places are hilly, and hiking to these hilltops is not only a good exercise but an excellent opportunity for some frameable photos. | |
| Labrador | |
Korok-Palmer River Valley The Korok-Palmer River Valley is an excellent hiking and canoeing destination in Labrador. | Check out this canoe.ca site for pictures of Labrador Odyssey 2001 which shows pictures of the Palmer River. |
Much of Labrador's coastline is dotted with many small islands, and with rugged shoreline. There are sandy beaches too, but Porcupine Strand may be the longest. More than 40 km long, this "Wonderstrand" is an oasis of resort type sandy beach. What a treasure to admire and preserve. | Porcupine Strand |
Labrador, North Coast List of Coastal Labrador places and galleries | Nain |
North West River List of Coastal Labrador places and galleries | North West River beach festival |
| South Coast of Newfoundland | |
| This park is located near Burgeo on the south coast. It has 7 km of sandy beach (Read more about this park at the Word Play) site. | Sandbanks Provincial Park |
| The drive out to the Port au Port Peninsula is scenic all the way, especially from Stephenville driving next to the ocean to the jewel of Cape St. George. | |
Cape St. George | |
Little Bay Islands (adjacent to the foot of the Northern Peninsula) This looks like the perfect harbour, protected by small islands at the entrance to act as breakwaters. Very picturesque. | Seal Cove |
Bishop's Falls | |
| West Coast of Newfoundland | |
Wreckhouse This is probably the windiest place in Newfoundland, but the scenery looks anything but wrecked. | |
 |  |
Located near the tip of the northern peninsula, Trout River begs to be visited, hiked, and photographed. | |
| Links Hospitality Newfoundland & Labrador | |
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