M/V Charleston at dusk

 

Charleston (M/V version) after dark

 

I had a work thing in Lawrence County, Ohio, tonight. I got there a few minutes early, so I figured I'd go to Lock and Dam 27 and with luck I would see a boat. I did, but I didn't expect it to be this classic.

Swan goose

 A few years ago we had two or more swan geese at Harris Riverfront Park here in Huntington WV. Then we had none for a while. Now we have one again.

Swan geese are native to China and Mongolia, not the United States. I assume this was a domestic bird that got loose, or its parents did.

The future of century-old concrete

Earlier this year, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine visited old Lock and Dam 27 on the Ohio River in Lawrence County, Ohio, to talk about his plan for water-related recreation projects. That was in May. In the seven months since we've not heard a lot about whatever plans he has for this spot, which happens to be one of my favorites along the entire Ohio River.

My big question is what happens here at Dam 27. It's a nice, peaceful spot that could use a few improvements. It's one of the few riverside esplanades left from the old dams, and one of the few of those that is a public park.

Specifically, I wonder about the concrete that formed the lock walls and guidewall at the old dam. The locks opened to river traffic in 1923, making this concrete more than a century old. As it has worn away, you can see how it was made in layers. It's an interesting site for industrial archaeologists, if that's what you call people like me who like to expore old workplaces and imagine how people earned their livings there.

By modern standards, some sections aren't safe to walk on, although that doesn't stop fishermen or curious people. I do ask myself what parts of the old concrete will be kept visible and what parts will be covered up. I guess we will see soon.

From the archives: February 2024

 Another time when I'm going through some pictures from a while back and find one that's more interesting now than it was then.

The morning of Feb. 6, 2024, when a Crounse boat was tied up at Catlettsburg, Kentucky.

I thought a wide, narrow crop would bring out the size of the barges better than a tighter crop.

Happy Thanksgiving 2024, everyone ...

 ... from the Ross estate near 

WV.

Six boats today

 It was about 40 degrees outside today. My body is still on summer standard time, so I was pretty cold trying to get a few pictures in Catlettsburg and Huntington. Maybe by the end of January this will seem like shorts and T-shirt weather, but my body's not there yet.

Anyway, here are a few pictures I got today. You can see six boats of varying degrees of clarity based on distance.

Here is the John Greet, with the Pocahontas in the background.

The Jean Akin, with the MAP Runner coming closer so it can turn up the Big Sandy.

The Bill Stile passing Huntington.

And the D.A. Grimm, the twin to the Bill Stile. The pilot came out to give me a wave. The clueless person I was, I should have gotten his beauty shot during the wave, but instead I waved back. Sorry about that.

Photo journeys close to home

This has been an excellent year for river photography for me. I wouldn't have expected it, though. Unlike most years, I haven't ventured very far from my home near Huntington, West Virginia, in 2024. I've been to Portsmouth, Ohio, and maybe to Pomeroy, Ohio. If I've gone beyond those towns, I don't remember, and my folder of 2024 pictures doesn't show any evidence of it.

I did go up the Kanawha River as far as St. Albans, West Virginia, on one photo expedition when the J.S.Lewis came down on a cold January day, but that's about as far as I went with my camera up a tributary.

There were plans to go to Cincinnati or Sistersville or places like that, but they never came about. Instead I was stuck at home along maybe 110 miles of river, if that many.

As with many things in my life in recent years, I didn't go where I had planned and I didn't get what I wanted, but I got better than what I had hoped for.

It was a good year for boat photography. I don't know that I had been as close to a Crounse boat as I had several times this year, such as this photo from August.

I got photos of weather and wildlife that I hadn't gotten before. Or if I had gotten them before, I got better ones or different ones. Here's one example. It's a heron flying off after I had scared it. I tend to do that with herons.

Even if I didn't travel far from home, I made frequent trips to the river to shoot a variety of things. When the year ends, I'll probably make a small book of my best river pictures of the year, just as I will make books of my kids and grandkids. I order a lot of prints of varying sizes, usally from 4-by-4 to 8-by-10. Now and then I will order one-time photo books. As much as I like photo prints, my images tend to look better on a book page.

Maybe next year I'll make it down to Paducah or Cairo. I do want to visit Golconda to see a couple of things there. Or I'll head up beyond Wheeling to look for a new baskethandle bridge there.

One thing I learned this year is that you don't always need to drive far from home to get a lot of memorable photos.

HTS. The boats, not the airport

 Huntington Tri-State is the name of the airport near where I live. Huntington Tri State is what you would call these two Marathon Petroleum boats meeting each other early this morning. This is seen from South Point, Ohio, looking across the river toward Kenova, West Virginia.

Visitor

 I was down by the Ohio early this morning when I saw this critter looking for breakfast.