Meet and greet

Himself !!!

Well, I was out at Read’s Book Shop in Carleton Place the other day, signing books and talking to people. I find it stimulating to meet readers, and to explain what has moved me to write about the Rideau Canal and the men and women who have kept it alive for almost 180 years.

In that light, the current government squeeze is depressingly familiar – that has been an invariable part of the history of the canal – “do more with less, charge more for less”. Pile on the bureaucracy, spout lofty inanities about the priceless heritage of Canadian parks, but don’t spend any money on it. Sigh …

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Going E-pubbing!

Himself !!!

Well, I’ve started looking into the possibilities of converting some of my books into electronic formats that could be read on Kindles, Nooks, Kobo, iPads, and so on. There is a wealth of software (mostly free) out there – how to decide between the freebies and the paid programs. I have the impression that the free stuff is often “good enough”, but I’m not sure.

I guess what I will have to do is try converting something small and seeing what the experience is like from the production side. Testing such an “ebook” will give me some sense of how it looks in the real world.

If the “free” stuff doesn’t measure up, then I can consider paying (ugh!). It’s still a lot cheaper than paying Adobe, that still doesn’t guarantee a smooth and painless experience.

If anyone out there has any experience or views on creating ebooks or simply reading them, I’d be interested in hearing about it.

I’ll be going off to Johnny Pigeau’s Reading Series at Backbeat Books in Perth this coming Friday. This session is on novels – earlier sessions have been on poetry (and most enjoyable). Things have certainly moved right along since Worsdworth and Frost.

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Snail Mail – Again !!

I had a request for an earlier book, Fish Tales: The Lure and the Lore of the Rideau, from England. When I checked the cost of sending the book by ExpressPost (6 days – no tracking), it came to $35. If I wanted tracking and 2 day delivery, the mailing cost jumped to $66. The book itself cost only $25.

No surprise – the potential buyer cancelled the order and said that she would pick it up on her next visit to the Rideau Corridor (summer 2012). Smart move!

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Snail Mail – Really?

Himself !!!

I’m really having trouble getting books to readers by mail. They are sent “expedited post”, but what sometimes happens is that they arrive in the destination city, and then aren’t delivered.  Wrong street number in one case – the PO identified the correct street address but didn’t deliver it and returned the package to me. Back into the system and am waiting patiently for the parcel to get there – still checking the tracking number.

Another package of 4 hasn’t arrived – still waiting to hear why.

I don’t think that the PO staff are screwing up, but it sure is frustrating for me and for those would-be readers.

Sigh….

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Lyndhurst Fair – Saturday Sept 17

Himself !!!

I came, I saw, I was blown away (to paraphrase some famous Roman)!!!

This fair has been going on for ever, since Pontius was a pilot. Anyway ….

I was there selling and signing my three books at the Writers’ Corner in the Public Library – I was able to make contact with some of the former guides, like Thea Fleming, and boat builders, like Charlie Cliffe ( through his daughter).

 

A number of people with family histories working on the Rideau Canal came to talk to me about the new book, Invisible Army. I loved it !!!!

 

Next year for sure and a tip of the hat to Margaret Brandt and her article in the Review-Mirror that alerted people to the Fair and to the fact that I was going to be there. It made all the difference in the world, I’m sure.

 

BTW, Lyndhurst has a brand new main street now, so if you haven’t been there in a while, or, even worse, have never managed to go there, this pretty village is sure worth the visit. It’s off COunty Road 43, about 10 minutes south of Delta, and can also be reached from Highway 15 through Morton ( Briar Hill Road). It has a very picturesque stone bridge as well.

 

With autumn leaves beginning to turn, plan a drive that takes you through Lyndhurst – you’ll be glad you did.

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Lyndhurst Fair – Something New

Himself !!!

The Lyndhurst Fair takes place Saturday September 17, 9-4.

I’ll be there with all 3 of my books – Invisible Army (natch!), plus Pathfinders and Fish Tales - in the Lyndhurst library.

Lyndhurst has a great stone bridge, and some fine old houses.

It seems to me that I went there back in 2006 to talk to the family of Cornell “Chef” Bennett, a former guide. His story is in Fish Tales, in the chapter on Westport.

For those unfamiliar with Lyndhurst, it can be reached from Kingston by taking the Briar Hill road from Morton ( on Highway 15) near Jones Falls. An alternate route from Ottawa or Brockville is to go to Delta and then take Hicock Road to Lyndhurst.

As a former parish priest used to say when encouraging attendance, “Come numerous!” I hope to see you all there.

 

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Wassup?

Just a quick note to poiint out the latest page – Smelly Socks, etc. Who would think that it was something so simple to deal with mosquitoes?

Does this mean that we can get rid of all the bug sprays, etc., and simply carry around a bag of smelly socks to lure the mosquitoes away from ourselves?

Opinions welcomed.

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Great Time in Brockville

Himself !!!

The Monday evening talk on Invisible Army went very well – about 35 people showed up – some from as far away as Kanata and Rideau Ferry. Gerry Covell, a retired lockmaster at Poonanmalee, came, and we went through the common travails of working around the Parks Canada personnel records.

Another gentleman brought the family genealogy of his distant ancestors – the Newman brothers, who were among the first lockmasters at Black Rapids, Clowes, and Nicholsons locks.

 

Creation of the “slackwater” canal flooded a lot of low-lying areas – shown in a “before and after” map of the Opinicon Lake area. Water management kept the water levels relatively stable to meet the needs of the steamers and the timber trade (which obviously went away, as road and rail pushed into the area).

 

I illustrated the difficulties of the early “roads” (so-called)  using Lockmaster Peter Sweeney’s diary (1839-1850) . He was a “travelling” man, as well as a “drinking” man, and his jaunts from Jones Falls to Brockville, Prescott, and Kingston sorely tested his stamina, but not his determination.

 

I focused on showing how the canal had successfully overcome its lack of long-term commercial success by recognizing (reluctantly) that the future lay in the tourism/ guiding/ cottage country area. Serendipity – the rise of the “back to nature” movement in the northern US in the 1880′s and the abundance of unspoiled nature in the Rideau Corridor was the catalyst.

 

My new projector, an Epson EX5200, worked like a charm!

 

All good!

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The Good Old Days

Take a look at the new page that I added, called The Good Old Days.

It gives us some insight into living conditions in the Rideau Corridor in the 1840s.  “Ansley’s Mills” is now Battersea, not so far from Brewers Upper and Lower Mills lock stations.

I plan to add other pages over time in order to illustrate just what the “good old days” were really like, for both city and country living. And … the examples will be based on eyewitness accounts and planned actions of local administrations: for example, there were constant struggles to get usable roads built. The example used here is no exaggeration.

Always open to comments, questions, etc.

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Lock Gate Safety

Burritt's Rapids - (no date)

In the previous post, I mused on the drowning of Lockmaster William Brady (Braidy) at Brewers Mills, and two other men . A party of five were crossing the lock in the dark and fell in. Mrs. Brady and one man were rescued.

The pictures here show that the early lock gates had only a single iron railing, making it possible to fall into the lock. If you were under the “affluence of ilcohol”, it might be easy to explain unsteadiness even in someone as experienced as Lockmaster Brady. 

Lock Gates - Chaffey's - 1833

You can see that the iron railing is only on one side. So…. if you’re not holding on, or if you’re unsteady, etc., you could easily tumble in. If it’s dark out, and if the lock man on duty is in the house, he won’t know you’re in the water until he hears you yell.

Today, the railings are on both sides of the gate – you walk between them. Harder to fall in, but not impossible.

 

Lock gate railing - at Isthmus ( Newboro) - 1841

This sketch shows the single railing on the gates. Pretty easy to fall in. Also note that there aren’t any life-saving features, such as ropes, ladders, etc. Tough to cross in the dark, especially if you’re a bit tipsy.

You’d think that a lockmaster and his friends would be more careful, but “familiarity breeds contempt,” they say.

 Many people are somewhat nervous crossing a lock in broad daylight, even with an iron railing on both sides of them.

 

 

 

 

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