PEACE
ON THE ROAD
Cape
Cod
August
10, 2012
We
have now traveled in forty states since we retired with our motor
home. It is not really a goal to travel in all forty eight states
but since every state has things we wish to see it follows that
eventually we will visit them all. It is too bad that there is not a
bridge to Hawaii and a good road to Alaska so we could visit them
also. Every place that we have gone we have found certain things to
be true. People are friendly everywhere. There is too much traffic.
People say, “It was more peaceful twenty or thirty years ago when
less homes were around here.” There are many other things that are
similar across the US. One of those I believe is a decline in the
quality of architecture. In the cities that we have traveled through
we have seen many homes and buildings that were built seventy-five to
a hundred and fifty years ago that have no match in the last fifty
years. I know that the majority of building of that age have long
since been replaced by newer buildings. I also understand that the
buildings of today are cheaper to build, more efficient, may require
less maintenance, are more comfortable and there are a myriad of more
reasons for their design. However I do not remember seeing many
buildings or homes that I think are more beautiful that older
designs. While we were in some of the small towns in Upper New York
I saw many places that had tremendous esthetic value. I also know
that the homes that I admire so much were built by the wealthy of the
time and are not homes of the average people. This house below is
just one of several that we saw in Medina, NY. (pronounced
Mu-dine-ah in NY) It is more pink than it appears in the picture.
The workmanship that goes into a home like this or the older
churches, courthouses, and academic buildings are so often a source
of amazement to me. I love the massive stonework and architectural
features like the widows watch, the roofs, the arches and porches.
Modern architecture is often pretty but I am usually unimpressed with
the building that I see.
I
CALL THIS MAGNIFICENT HOUSE A PINK LADY OF MEDINA
With
modern technology I cannot imagine any person not having talked to
another who is half way across the US. Many have talked to someone
in another nation across an ocean. It was not always that way. The
only battle in the War of 1812 in which there were heavy casualties
was the Battle of New Orleans, fought on January 8, 1815. It was a
decisive victory for the US but there was one major problem: the
Treaty of Ghent (now Belgium) ending the war had been signed on 24
December 1814 -- about two weeks prior to the battle! Neither side
was aware that the war was over. Skirmishes between England and the
US continued till May because of communications lag time. At that
time and until about 1860 it took at least two weeks for any message
to go between England and the US. After several failed attempts the
first transatlantic cable was laid from Ireland to Newfoundland in
1857. In 1879 the first cable from France to the US was completed
and messages could go the 3000 miles in minutes. Early in the
service a message could cost as much as a dollar a letter. This was
at a time when the average man would earn twenty dollars a month.
The traffic was heavy in spite of the cost and soon additional cables
were laid down. The first cable had a single conductor but it could
simultaneously handle messages from each end. Later cables had
multiple information wires so more communications could be handled.
At one time there were 10 cables that went to various parts of the
world from the US. I had always thought about the cables being quite
thick, but in actuality they are only about an inch in diameter. In
the 1960's satellite technology provided the first real competition
to the cables. The small building below currently houses a cable
splice for the 1879 line that now continues inland. It is
interesting to note that when the cable was first used people were
amazed that a message sent from England would arrive in the US many
hours earlier in the day than it was sent due to differences in time
zones. People today are familiar with time zones and the differences
of clock time.
THE
FRENCH CABLE STATION ON CAPE COD
Eastern
Connecticut seems to be filled with lighthouses or harbor lights or
marker lights. It does not seem that you can go for more than a few
miles before there is a light of some sort. When we have traveled in
other areas with a lot of lights it seems that there was greater
variety of styles and paint patterns. Along the coast and in the
bays here a lot of the lights look very much like an inverted ice
cream cone with a lantern house on the top. Most of the lights are
painted white. A lot of the lights have been redesigned to eliminate
all the original windows. The windows have been simply bricked up
and painted over once the lighthouse keepers were eliminated and
electricity was installed. Some of the lights have had a very
interesting history. One was built by a contractor who also owned a
tavern. The light was not complete when the inspector came so he was
detained at the tavern while some workers quickly tried to make the
light look finished. The inspector fell through the floor down to
the foundation of the light. He was unhurt but angry. The light
tower was so poorly constructed that it leaked everywhere when it
rained as did the keepers house that went with it. The house was
torn down and replaced with a frame building. A number of years
later it was loaded on a barge and moved across the bay to another
light station. It was claimed that the light keeper stayed in the
house during the move and fixed his breakfast while under way. The
Stonington harbor light had a history like many lighthouses. It was
built in 1823 close to the shore and was threatened by shore erosion.
In 1840 it was dismantled and moved to the current location. Like
many others its original light was 10 individual oil burning lamps.
In 1889 it was replaced by a light on the end of a new breakwater.
THE
STONINGTON, CONNECTICUT HARBOR LIGHT IS NOW A MUSEUM OF THE AREA
Connecticut
was an enjoyable area to visit. Now we have moved on and are in
Illinois with plans to work our way around the Midwest and back down
to Mission, Texas before there is cold or snow.
Till
later this is Doug of
PEACE
ON THE ROAD
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