Lighthouse of the Week, March 1-7, 2020: Rose Blanche, Newfoundland, Canada

Little did I know when I picked this lighthouse that it would have the backstory it does.  I just thought it looked good.  It's on the island of Newfoundland (location map), which as one would expect has a whole lot of lighthouses.

But this one is special;  it's a restored granite lighthouse.  As one of the Web sites says, it might be only restored granite lighthouse on the Atlantic seaboard. 

Let's learn a bit more about it.

"On July 26, 1871, Neville selected the location and work began soon after. Of granite construction and built by local workers, the building operated as a lighthouse from 1873 to the 1940s. The original light was a 4th order dioptric lit from sunset to sunrise at a height of 95 feet above sea level. It could be seen for 13 miles in clear weather."

(Neville was the builder/designer.)

If you read all the Web sites that I've got linked here, you will find out that Rose Blanche fell into "disrepair" over time, meaning that every wall of the place collapsed, leaving only the light tower (because it had a staircase inside to hold it up).   But it was actually rebuilt, with 70% of the original granite (one site says), and is now a dedicated museum and tourism site.

Now some stats, from the Lighthouse Directory, of course:

"12 m (40 ft) octagonal granite light tower with lantern and gallery, mounted at one end of a 1-1/2 story granite keeper's house; 6th order Fresnel lens. Fog horn (blast every 60 s) nearby."

After they restored it in the 1990s, they relit the lamp in 2002.

Now some sites about it:

Heritage of Newfoundland and Canada

Rose Blanche Lighthouse

Lighthouse Friends - Rose Blanche Lighthouse

And we shall finish with pictures and a video (which has a very powerful soundtrack).  I tracked down a picture of the lens they have there now,  a 6th order Fresnel lens -- and there are not many of them left.

This thought crossed my mind, too

With fears of coronavirus growing, a lot of sporting events are having to evaluate their plans, and their schedule.

One of these events is the Tokyo Olympics.  As of now, there are no plans to cancel them.  However, I was thinking that they might go on -- with no spectators.  Which would be a financial disaster of mega-proportions, but at least the Games would go on.

It appears that I'm not the only one thinking this way.  And I expect that I and this other guy won't be the last to think it, either.

In fact, already many events have taken place with no fans in attendance -- which I didn't know.

The Olympic Games could be played out behind closed doors with NO FANS in Tokyo due to coronavirus crisis, British Cycling chief admits

I guarantee if it happens this way, it will be a lot different than any previous event of this magnitude.

Lighthouse of the Week, February 23-29, 2020: Ballycotton, County Cork, Ireland

There are a lot of lighthouses that are partly painted black;  like the two-tones I posted earlier, or black-and-white stripes, even checkerboard and similar alternating patterns.

But there are very few all-black lighthouses.  One article I read said that there are currently 3 around the world. 

So this is one of them, situated amazingly perfectly on an island off the coast of Ireland.  This is called the Ballycotton lighthouse.

Here is a page about it;  it even includes a map.

The lighthouse was first lit in 1851. The tower is 15 meters (50 feet) high, and is on a small island just off Ballycotton Head, which will be seen.

Below, pictures an a video.

by John Finn

In front of the rising full moon

March 1st sonnet to get some momentum

This sonnet is entitled mental vacation.


mental vacation

I cannot do the frivolous unless
I do the obvious before I have the chance
to think about what constitutes the less
important points in life. So circumstance
requires priorities to be assessed
and that which does not hold excitement may
be dominant in terms of the expressed
commitment it entails, thus, I must weigh
what must be done against my heart's desires
and oft-times do the drudgery that needs
completion; whilst my patience flags and tires
along with strength, at least my mind proceeds
to where the job is done, and then respite
might then be found where sybarites invite.

Why have I never noticed Katheryn Winnick before?

The answer to the question posed in the title is, apparently, because I don't watch Vikings.

The reason I noticed here now is that I accidentally saw this story about her being in a new "procedural" drama named Big Sky, and when I looked at the article, I thought her picture bore a striking resemblance to Jennifer Lawrence.

However, starring in the Vikings, she doesn't look much like Jennifer Lawrence.

Nice owl, by the way.

Schnorkie is a real (mixed) dog breed

Sometimes I make up words and then Google Search them.  Oftentimes the first entry for a word I made up has already been acquired by the Urban Dictionary and turned into something raunchy.  Try it yourself for some amusement.

However, when I came up with the word "schnorkie" and looked it up, I was surprised to find out that it was the name of a mixed dog breed, more commonly snorkie.  It's a mix between a miniature schnauzer and a Yorkshire terrier.  Learn more about it here.

If you're a dog person and you have an idea what those two dogs look like, you might expect that they'd be pretty cute.

You would be right.

Highway 41 gets to the White River

The White River in Indiana goes through a LOT of Indiana, including going through parts of the state's main city, Indianapolis.  The White River is actually two rivers, the East Fork and the West Fork, both of which are entirely in the state.  In this installment of the Highway 41 end-to-end Streetview trek, we will reach the East Fork.

So, let's go.


Passing by Fort Branch



Passing Toyota Manufacturing Indiana (and it snowed recently).  Zoom in on the red sign.



Crossing the Patoka River near Patoka.



Passing the Hull Airport, which appears to be a very long grassy field.



Crossing the East Fork of the White River. Unlike the West Fork, the East Fork doesn't go anywhere close to Indianapolis.


I'm going to try have two posts a week in the Trek. Maybe we'll get out of Indiana by April.