Remembering Donna 1960

As we brace for Florence’s arrival I’m remembering Donna in 1960.

• Hurricane Donna--Had a very erratic path in the summer of 1960 that started in the Caribbean, then went to the Florida Keys, then into the Gulf of Mexico, where it would make a turn to the north and make a second landfall over Florida at Fort Myers. It continued northeastward across the Florida Peninsula, and moved back out into the Atlantic near Daytona Beach. Not done yet, Donna headed up the East Coast, and made another landfall at Topsail Island, North Carolina. It then finished its trip by heading into New England, and a final landfall across Long Island. At its peak, Donna had wind gusts ranging between 175 and 200 mph, a minimum central pressure of 27.46 inches, and a 13 foot storm surge. Its total damage cost was over one billion 1960 United States dollars while Donna left 50 people dead.  

I wrote about her landfall in Elberon when my home burned.
http://pats-addition.blogspot.com/2017/09/donna-september-121960.html

C & O Canal

"And you'll always know your neighbor

And you'll always know your pal

If you've ever navigated on the C&O  canal"

(apologies to author Thomas S Allen of "Low Bridge, Everybody Down" 1905)

C & O Canal in operation 1828-1924 with 90 foot barges hauling mostly coal from Cumberland MD to the wharfs of Georgetown. Built to descend 605 feet of elevation in 184.6 miles it used a series of 74 locks. It is now maintained and operated seasonally by the National Park Service.

Wikipedia image

"We've hauled some barges in our day

Filled with lumber, coal and hay

From Cumberland to Georgetown bay"

 It follows the Potomac River. Here are some of the falls they avoided.

One 54 foot modern barge carries tourists on a short stretch with one lock.

Passengers on board

Opening the gates

Guiding ropes

 Mule power

 Two mule hitch

 Turn about

 Final questions

Return to landing

Tying up

 A great outing for kids. A group of school kids from the Netherlands was on board. While they have canals, they don't have locks. And there's an iPhone app for that...C & O Canal Explorer and C & O Companion.

Thrilled...

Yes. I was thrilled. I'm on a trip to a wedding in northern NJ. I took the scenic tour...one night in Philadelphia, one night in Long Branch, one night at the wedding in the Budd Lake area. A very organized wedding!

I stopped by our old house in Elberon for two hours on the beach on a perfect October day.

Then I stopped at the Elberon Library where i had the patron number 1132. I started browsing the shelves for a book with my number written in the back. The librarian asked if I needed help and I told her I was an old patron from the private library days. She started looking and found a book right away. Main Street, Sinclair Lewis

We got talking and she brought out the scrap book of library history. I said "Oh I know quite a bit, I wrote a blog about it." She drew back and says "Are you ... Pat?" I owned up and both librarians told me they read my blog and loved the history of houses and the library piece. But they were too shy to comment! We ended up taking pictures.

I was thrilled to meet readers (who weren't my family)!

Donna, September 12,1960

Great Walls of the Past

Historic walls.

Amorite Wall 21st century BC

Long walls of Athens 461 BC

Alexander's Barrier 5th century BC

Great Wall of China 14-17 century AD

Walls of Constaninople (fell 1450)

Harridan's Wall 122AD

Siegfried Line/Westwall 1917

Maginot Line 1932

Berlin Wall 1960-1989

North Korean Border 1977

Israeli West Bank Wall 2004

Hungarian Border Barrier 2015

A further list of walls here https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_walls

All built to keep out "others".  Is that who we are? America, where our motto has been

"Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."

Let us not build walls of exclusion. Build roads to compromise. Let us not build walls to divide. Build roads to unite.