That is, on buildings and other places that were largely funded by the public?
Where I grew up, though, the NCR Auditorium was totally private and yet open for community groups and events.
Author: Jnana Hodson
In downsizing to a remote fishing village in Downeast Maine, this eclectic writer feels everything's coming together.
There’s more than shells to collect on the beach
And there’s more than sea glass, too.
Sometimes it’s fun to play with what you tote home, creating whimsical designs like the ones you’ll find in the Shore Things free photo album at my Thistle Finch blog.
How many types of boats under sail do you recognize?
Living around big waters, as I do now, means hearing a number of new terms to identify boats big and small. When you merely read about them, say in a history book, you can usually skim over the word and move on.
Not so when you’re trying to describe what you just saw.
Today we won’t attempt to get into the array of mostly motorized vessels. Not even a Bayliner versus a Boston Whaler. Naval ships alone would require a long list.
Instead, let’s look at a general overview of boats originally powered by the wind. (Admittedly, today many of them will have an internal engine for additional power.) These can range from small sailboats to majestic tall ships.
- Sloop. The most common type of sailing vessel, it has a single mast, usually with one triangular mainsail (in what’s called Bermuda rigging) and, in the front, a triangular headsail, usually a jib. These can range from small, single-person fun boats to larger racing boats manned by trained crews.
- Cat. Or catboat. Has a single mast rising from the front of the boat and a large, single sail on a long boom. A second beam of wood, called a gaff, runs along the top of the sail, turning it into a four-sided sheet of hexagonal shape rather than the triangle. They were popular New England workboats around the early 1900s, short (typically ) 20 to 30 feet long and wide, highly stable, and have made a comeback today.
- Cutter. A single-masted vessel resembling a sloop, but often having a gaff-rigged mainsail and an extended spar called a long bowsprit extending from the bow, which allows a second headsail (a staysail, or “staysul.”)
- Schooner. Two or more masts, with the largest sail (the mainsail) at the aft, plus a foresail (resembling the mainsail) on the mast ahead of it as well as a jib and staysail at the bowsprit. They may also have one or more topsails and a small sail called a mizzen aft of the mainsail. With their complex rigging, they can be fast and undeniably majestic. And, yes, my favorite.
- Ketch. Resembles a schooner but has an extra mast behind the mainsail.
- Yawl. This term has several different meanings, the first regarding rigs with one or two fully equipped masts plus a mizzen mast aft. It can also refer to a double-ended hull boat that could be worked from the beaches, not that I’m finding any reference to sailing in what would be the equivalent of reverse gear. Some of them, if you’re a bettor, may have been the fastest-sailing open boats ever built. And it even seems to be a kind of dinghy. Just so you get an idea of how loose some of these terms can be.
- Brig. This two-masted ship introduces us to square-rigging with sails arrayed on horizontal spars perpendicular to the keel and masts – that is, “squared.” The spars, called yards, present the sails to face the wind from behind. The foremast of a brig is always square-rigged, but some varieties may have a gaff or lateen sail on the mainmast. (Lateen is an ancient arrangement I won’t get into unless you’re going to Egypt.) “Square,” as far as masts go, means more or less perpendicular to the hull, unlike the ones more or less parallel to the hull. Trust me on this.
- Barquentine. Its foremast was square-rigged, with gaff-rigged masts behind. But let’s skip ahead.
- Barque (or bark). A three- to five-masted square-rigged ship consisting of a foremast, mainmast, and a smaller, often gaff-rigged mizzen mast at the aft for steering stability. Far and away the most numerous of the square-rigged vessels. Enough of the finer points. Let’s turn to the most glorious.
- Tall (or full-rigged) ship. Three or more masts, all fully square-rigged, one sail above another, often five or six on a mast, with a hull often much longer than a schooner. The individual sails were smaller than a schooner’s and less likely to rip out in a storm, but the number of them provided more overall sail surface, allowing for maximum speed. The downside was that crews of 30 or more sailors were required for handling those sheets. Still, seeing one of them is exciting. It’s what you really picture first, after all. Now, for all of the subcategories, such as a frigate.
Trying to make sense of the world
Thinking without words? How about being born deaf? How would you conceptualize anything?
The inner dialogue to get through a day., things like “Let’s take a shower.”
And then? “Let’s eat,” even if it’s only one plate.
~*~
What does the dog know
that I don’t?
Kinisi 272
Meaning?
Just what is?
Cruise ship tender heads for the shore
Many cruise ships to Rockland, Maine, are too big for the harbor itself. Instead, they drop anchor just beyond and ferry their passengers to the town.
This is how it looked from the historic schooner Louis R. French last summer.
For more schooner experiences, take a look at my Under Sail photo album at Thistle Finch editions.
My ‘hood
Underfoot counts, too
Another consideration I haven’t mentioned was the upstairs flooring.
As much as we would have liked polished hardwood, our budget called for something more affordable.
The existing flooring was more piecemeal, with unevenness and knots. It did speak of the rustic origins of the house and its historic character. Our contractor mentioned some flooring that would match it, and we were onboard. (Sorry for the pun.)
Refinishing those planks might have looked historically charming, though they were never great to begin with. Instead, we salvaged what we could and added fresh to continue.
The next question was how to treat it. Apart from two rooms and a hallway of vinyl flooring downstairs, the existing flooring, upstairs and down, had been painted a light blue that easily flaked. Could it be sanded and refinished in a natural finish? Did we have time to undertake that? Otherwise, what color of paint could we agree on, at least for the bedrooms? The bathroom and laundry room might be a different matter requiring something more waterproof.
I had hoped to decide on a paint color extending across all of the upstairs. Mine was the minority vote.
That left me facing a decision for my room. Please stay tuned.
How would I have envisioned literary success?
Let’s start with the prompt: Imagine yourself in the position you desire.
For much of my life, that had two conflicting scenes, the newspaper editor in his community in contrast to the successful novelist in a tweed jacket in a New York study or a poet in something more funky.
Much less for the supporting people my life, starting with wife and children?
When I last looked at the question, it essentially asked me to consider my early retirement years. How curious! The newspaper editor, at least, was out of the picture.
At its core, I craved recognition (affirmation!) – after years of largely reclusive labor. But which circle did I most want to recognize me – hip, alternative culture? Quaker, international literary, Seacoast New Hampshire? At some level, perhaps, it was also wanting to visit Dayton and be known even there – or to hear again from many people I’d known and lost contact with in my relocations. The Quaker world is awfully small and restrained, especially with its three sharp divisions. The literary world, meanwhile, has so many high priests and exclusive emphases – could I move among them? Yet, if the Society of Friends is to survive and grow, I needed to move beyond its confines and reach out to a wider audience. In a larger sense, then, my recognition would be as one who brilliantly bridges these disparate worlds. If only.
I did imagine a significant amount of time would be engaged in travel – public readings, workshops, conferences. Eight weeks a year, split between Quaker and literary? Perhaps an additional retreat or camping trip? The travel could also include three-day weekends for symphony, opera, and galleries.
I also imagined having three books published on paper each year – one of poetry, one of Quaker practice, and one of fiction or memoir/genealogy. (They were already written.)
The rest of the time would be correspondence and basic living, including a social life, concerts/plays/etc.
I do believe such reflections are important in channeling what might otherwise be simply drifting through life.
So back to the questions.
Define what you are trying to accomplish. Be clear about what you’re setting out to do. What problem are you trying to solve? What new ground are you trying to break? What will happen if you manage this well? What will happen if it isn’t managed well?
I would have said, Brand myself as the leading new Quaker voice – or at least an original Thinker. (Think of Bill Stafford in the Church of the Brethren, Wendell Berry, even Mary Oliver the Unitarian – who has emerged since?) What I want to do is bring Quaker theology into the center of contemporary thought and discourse, and then to renew the life of the Society itself. The poetry and fiction add to my credibility as a writer.
Well, that has slipped past me.
Now for another hard question.
Who do you think would play me in the movie version?
~*~
You can find my surviving novels in the digital platform of your choice at Smashwords, the Apple Store, Barnes & Noble’s Nook, Scribd, Sony’s Kobo, and other fine ebook retailers. They’re also available in paper and Kindle at Amazon, or you can ask your local library to obtain them.
Reading his name is one thing, but how was it pronounced?
The big pink mansard a block from our house was owned by noted shipbuilder and designer Caleb Stetson Huston from the mid-1850s until his death in 1887. He also served two terms in the state legislature.
My question remains, how was it pronounced: Huss-tun, Who-stun, or Hugh-stun?
Jnana's Red Barn 