grayb

Too many days without sun. It's been unseasonably warm for a while but also cloudy, wet and dark. If I don't get enough bright, natural, light every day I tend to get cranky, sluggish and depressed. Were it not for Ott Lites and the other sunlight reproducing bulbs I use all the time I'd be in big trouble.

The good news is that I've been doing a lot of hiking and seeing the local bald eagles just about every morning.

This view of the porch, yard and river will give you an idea of just how close they often are.



You can see why I haven't been able to get any picture of them yet. They come around the bend just to the left, skim above the surface of the water, and quickly disappear out of sight to the right. As awesome a sight as it is, they are only in view for a second or two. They also fly and sit in the trees on the other side of the river but I use binoculars to watch them.

You can also see evidence of some of the problems I have with living here. This cottage was built on a flood plain. The yard turns back into a wetland whenever it rains. It is not even legal to even have a dwelling here but my landlord built without benefit of permits or permission. What I live in is officially a "garage". Other issues? The driveway is a nightmare most of the winter, the water which comes from the shallow well is undrinkable and the less said about the septic system the better. I believe I've mentioned the mold in the walls...

Enough whining... Right outside the windows there are eagles, owls, ducks and just about every other bird native to the northeast US. Beaver and otters often swim by and I can hear (and sometimes see) coyotes, wolves and foxes at night. There are also plenty of nearby places to hike and interesting things to see.



Here's one of them. After a day of hiking over in Connecticut I ended up in the town of Canaan at Beckley Furnace. This blast furnace was built in 1847 and produced pig iron for over 70 years until it was fired for the final time in the winter of 1918-19. Here's a late 19th century photo of the furnace in operation. The caption mentions that most of the wooden structures were destroyed in 1896 but enough were rebuilt so that the furnace was "back in blast" by 1898.



Here's a view of the large front Casting Arch and a restored "cutaway" version of the hearth. The huge Casting Shed with sand floor was built on the front of this arch. . The tree-shaped mold for the molten iron (called the "pig beds") was a central channel (the "sow") formed in the sand which fed at right angles into attached molded depressions (the "pigs"). After everything cooled, the resulting ingots, called pig iron, were broken off and could then be made into wrought iron or alloyed into steel.



These are the remains of the primary water powered turbine which powered the blowers to blast the air into the furnace. During the first years of operation the bellows were powered by a water wheel, which this stone structure would have held.



This is a Salamander, a multi-ton hunk of iron created by a failure of some sort within the furnace. It is one of 13 discovered on site. The hearth would have to be dismantled (it was usually at least partially destroyed anyway) and men and oxen would drag the iron out. A huge salamander (and the resulting damage) was the cause of the final shutdown.



Iron and brick were scavenged from the site for several decades until it was purcahsed by the state and designated "Connecticut's Industrial Monument" (the first and only) in 1946.



The site was placed on the National register of Historic Places in 1978 (along with those iron bridges I so love) and was restored and opened to the public just a few years ago.

The furnace, dam and a ten ton salamander

I ended up having a great day and arrived home just before dark.



I hope that you are enjoying your winter (or summer) as much as I am mine! All the best to you and yours...