Mysteries….

In the world today there are remainders of things once built, but gone or half destroyed leaving questions to those who pass later, “I wonder what that was?”

One such mystery to me as I traveled thru Florida was a Big Ditch (the following is taken from a 1930’s article about a cross Florida shipping canal):

*****All that the tourist can see of the canal is a great gash in the earth, five or six miles long and nearly five hundred feet wide, where excavation was begun in the Autumn of 1935 for a sea-level canal, deep enough and wide enough to permit the passage between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, of ocean-going ships. ******

Until someone tells you, you have no idea. The canal was to go from the Crystal river/Dunnellen area to Jacksonville.  I did not know this until Vondale & Rose camped over in that area and met Gary Burghoff (Radar). They talked and Gary filled them in on the failed 1935 canal plans.

Paula, the cowgirl, used to come up with many mysteries for us to ponder. Lately it was a little rock building in Wisconsin, by Darla.

Many years ago We drove thru NYC on the way to an appointment for Children’s Church Programs for a week of Jamaican/Haitian Camp Meeting on Long Island. I saw a Giant rusting world globe. I asked about it that week and was told it was the remnants of the 1964 World’s Fair shown below:

 

The glory was gone.

We have passed so many things, from the past, too big and too expensive to dismantle. In the Yukon and Alaska you will see the Dredges, and if someone did not tell you , you would not know the fabulous history.

We went aboard this Dredge, it has been restored,

But if you had seen this above, it would have been a real mystery. Picture this thing moving up the creek and dredging for gold as it went. Yes, it moved and had a life of its own.

Driving around the country I see huge abandoned buildings, most in disrepair. I wonder what that used to be. If we are around long I will find out.

If you are around Marquette, MI you will see these monsters protruding into lake Michigan, abandoned, and wonder:WHAT IN THE WORLD?

These were used to load iron ore. Originally train tracks were trestled high, level with the top,a train could roll out and drop the ore. then those many chutes could lower and load a barge in minutes. An amazing engineering feat.

Mysteries of the past are all over the world. I enjoy the wonderment that goes with seeing them.

Thanks for coming by the log..

Nite Shipslog

PS:

We are limited only by our imagination. That is why I admire dreamers so much, without a dreamer we would still be dragging a load instead of rolling it.

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Dreamers! The above are hydrogen cars, one day these or even a more earth friendly vehicle will be a reality on the road.