We got the 14” of snow predicted and it’s severe cold!
Schools closed again tomorrow. The mayor has declared a State of Emergency for Pittsburgh. Many plows are broken and streets aren’t able to be cleared.
This is a guest blog, photographed by my friend Debbie who lives on Neville Island, along the Ohio River. She texted me these pics. She and her husband Sy were enjoying their hot tub when this tug, breaking up ice, came by. So happy you shared these pics.
The images look black and white except for the flag’s pop of color.
“Neville Island is named for its first owner, General John Neville, who was given the property by Congress because of his valuable service during the Revolutionary War. There is no evidence that the island, previously referred to as Montour’s Island or Long Island, was inhabited prior to that time.”
A little more than nine miles from downtown Pittsburgh in the Ohio River is Neville Island ,
Friends Deb and Sy, residents of the island, are the guest bloggers today- photographs and writing. This blog post is in two parts.
The first is the moment of Zen sent by Deb to me on my phone and the autumn hillside reflected in the Ohio River and the barge and tug capture the feel of where they live on the island. Peaceful and a gorgeous image. Thanks Debbie and Sy for creating the blog post today.
But the day before there was a lot of activity right by their home.
Gigantic Crane Operation Part 2 of the Guest Blog
Sy writes about the crane photos
The photos reveal a crane on a barge that was towed upstream on the
Ohio River, along with an empty barge, from Midland (Beaver County) Pa
to Neville Island. This crane had a large clamshell bucket, weighing,
according to the owner, approx. 8,500 lbs. EMPTY!
This bucket was utilized to clean out silt from our neighbor’s boat garage. It removed four cubic yards of silt at a time which is a lot of silt! Muddy
river water would flow into this calm area. While calm, the silt
would fall out of the water and onto the river bottom in the boat
garage. This boat garage was last cleaned out in a similar fashion
about 11 or 12 years ago. This crew removed approximately 8 to 10 feet
of silt from the river bottom in the boat garage.
Before this calm area was a boat garage, it was part of the storage area for the
upstream gate to a lock on the Ohio River that was constructed in the
late 1890s and decommissioned in the early 1930s when the present
locks went into operation. The steel lock gate was removed and
utilized for scrap metal around the time of WWII.
Additionally, an old, heavy steel barge cover (at least 60 or 70
years old and more than 2000 lbs.) was removed by the crane as the
boat garage only utilized two such covers and this third cover was
deteriorating and not really needed. All of this work was accomplished
in about 4 hours.”
Hostess Deb created the perfect Pandemic lunch on her deck overlooking the Ohio River. We’d not seen each other since early March. Centerpiece courtesy of Donna, who gave me a kalanchoe in a tiny pumpkin, too. Asian chicken wraps and potato salad with a side of red grapes. A tall glass of apple cider from the farm stand. An oatmeal cookie.
There were two barges that went by with tug boats, several freight trains across the River. Just a few trees starting to turn.
It was so lovely to see longtime friends. Catch up before the winter sets in.
Yes that’s a mask in the middle and an oatmeal cookie in a cellophane sleeve on top of the fish napkin.Kalanchoe in a pumpkin I was knitting. Donna was crocheting. Deb captured her luncheon guests on the deck and cast on a pumpkin hat right after lunch.
This is where I photographed the hungry bee devouring his pollen lunch .
But the day before there was a lot of activity right by their home.The crane arrives
Removing the covers
And there they go
