Photo Hunters: Sign on the Hebard Building

The Hebard State Office Building in Newport is relatively new. It is on the waterfront of Lake Memphremagog and houses the Department of Motor Vehicles, a lawyer office, meeting space and the Community College of Vermont (where I teach). Howard Dean, former governor of Vermont, 2004 presidential candidate and now Chairman of the National Democratic Committee, dedicated this building in 1999. Below is a panorama photo of the building that I made this past week. The lake is on the right so that our classrooms all have views of the lake and the Canadian mountains. Please click on it to view it full size.

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Technorati Tags: Newport, Vermont, Hebard State Office Building, Howard Dean, Lake Memphremagog
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Heads or Tails: First or Last: Newport, Vermont

Poulin Grain: In the middle of the city

Newport, Vermont is at the southern end of Lake Memphremagog. Memphremagog is a 32 mile (51.5 km) long fresh water glacial lake straddling the international border between Newport and Magog, Québec. Newport is, therefore, the first (or last) American city on the lake. These are photographs of sites and views in Newport taken from the shore of the lake.

Owl's Head Mountain (elevation: 2,450 ft or 746.76 meters), in Québec, Canada as seen from Newport across Lake Memphremagog, viewed in the last light of day (which, with the dark cloud bank, explains the darkness of the photo). Owl's Head is way back in the darkness and can be seen more easily if you click on the photo and view the large version in a new window.

The Gateway Center, site of many social functions in the area.

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Technorati Tags: Heads or Tails, Newport, Vermont, Magog, Quebec, Owl's Head, Poulin Grain, Gateway Center

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The Portland Montreal Pipe Line

::Portland Montreal Pipe Line:: About us

BG, a kind gentleman from Maine, e-mailed me about the Portland Montreal Pipe Line, whose warning sign I blogged about yesterday.  He sent me this link to the PMPL site. It's full of fascinating information: the pipeline opened in 1941 and is approximately 236 miles (or approximately 380 km) long.  It sends oil from Portland, Maine ("the largest oil port on the US East Coast") north to Montreal. It was built because of the need, during World War II, "to safely transport vital oil when enemy warships interrupted tanker traffic bound for refineries in Canada." I haven't heard of any problems with this pipeline. But when a problem happens, it will be a dozy. This is crude oil, and it's dangerous stuff. 

According to a Petroleum Administration Defense District map, this seems to be the only pipe line in New England.

Now I'm wondering if a hike along the pipeline (to Portland going south or to Montreal going north) is possible. Sounds interesting. There's a lot of history in this pipeline. Below is a very crude map, provided by PMPL, of the route the pipeline takes:

Thank you, BG, for the information.

Technorati tags: Portland+Montreal+Pipe+Line+Corporation crude+oil
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Kat's Cradle: Our Winter Weather

Kat's Cradle: Our Winter Weather

I quote from a comment I left on this post of my blogging friend Kat's Cradle from Australia:

For those people from the US that don't get it (and that is all of us since there are only two three nations in the world that don't use metric and the US is one of them), I translate:

In a normal winter the average day time temperature is 72°F. The night time temps can get to about 46°F.

and

The lowest night time temps in the city have been around 37°F to 39°F. Where I live is about 19 miles inland and our temps have come down to below 32°F. The day time temps have been around 64°F to 66°F.

My comment: It is the middle of summer here and you are now officially warmer, in the middle of winter, than we have been this summer. Wingnut is freezing at swimming lessons. It has gotten to 70°F (21°C) maybe a couple times in July. I think we'll come to your neck of the woods to get a proper summer this year during winter.

What are your summer temps?
This is fascinating.

Americans need to learn these things in mathematics and science classes so that they can understand their fellow citizens in the world. My college students don't know these conversions even though we are on the border with metric Canada. I don't know these conversions! The mathematics of measurement is part of our cultural literacy. We're failing.

Here is a conversion tool:

• In your Google search field, type, without the quotes, "convert 18 degrees c to f" or "convert 18 degrees f to c"
• Hit enter. Your Google result will be your conversion.
  

Google does these conversions for you. They will convert between metric and American systems and within systems (i.e. "convert 28 ounces to pounds").

If we make ourselves do these conversions enough, we will gain a sense of what 20°C is or what 100 kph is. We need to learn.
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White Admiral Revisited

From this . . .


Bugman50 in Calgary, Alberta took the above photo of the larva of a White Admiral butterfly.

Four years ago, I took a photo of the White Admiral here in Vermont where they are common. This week I posted an entry on this blog when I finally identified the butterfly I had photographed on bugguide.net.

Bugman50 graciously allowed me to use his photo so that I could record and share the tremendous changes this beautiful animal goes through in its life. I thank him for his generosity. Be sure to click on the photos to see them full size. Also, please look at Bugman50's photos because they are amazing.

To this . . .

Limenitis arthemis

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Welcome to Vermont

I-91 south, a few yards south of Canadian border in Derby Line

I would prefer to have been able to get a straight-on shot but they placed this sign at a very inconvenient spot. Eventually I will get the right shot. This will have to do for now. It is satisfying my compulsion for signs.

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Haskell Free Library and Opera House

On Saturday, I went to the Haskell Opera House in Derby Line and saw The Complete Works of William Shakespeare in an hour and a half. The three actors above played all roles. I laughed so hard that my face hurt. It was one of the best evenings I have had. The play was produced by QNET Productions, the resident theater company of the Opera House.

These are photos that I took of the Free Library (the big left door) and Opera House (the little right door) but I don't like the wires in the first and the cut off tower in the second. It is a gorgeous building. I have included some photos from the web below from the inside.

The international border goes through the Opera House and Library and is marked with tape on the floor. I sat on the US side.

Below is the stone obelisk that marks the border on the outside. There are cameras on the phone poles to see if people try to come across the border without reporting to Customs. If you accidentally park in the wrong country you have to report to both Customs on your way home. Even though I walked into Canada to take these photos, I did not bother to report because my car remained in the US.

The Haskell Free Library and Opera House straddles the Canada-United States border. Since its construction in 1901, it has become a symbol of the harmony between the two countries. The Haskell was a gift to the community given in memory of Carlos F. Haskell by his wife Martha and son Horace Haskell. It was designed by Boston architects James Ball, a Rock Island (Canada) native and his partner Gilbert Smith. The position of the border is depicted by a black line painted on the floor. It starts at the south-west tower and is visible through the center of the building. The library stacks, the Opera House stage and some seats are in Quebec (Canada). The rest of the seats and the main entrances are in Vermont (USA).

The structure rests on a granite block foundation. The cut granite blocks on the first story and the yellow brick on the second , bear the load of the building. The Opera House's hand-painted scenery, roll-up curtain and balcony level frescoes are the work of vermont born, Boston artist Erwin LaMoss. The Haskell has been classified as a historic site the the Quebec, Canadian and United States governments.

And now for the inside (not my photos!):
Nudity everywhere!:


The painted curtain:






I am thinking of buying season's tickets. I don't know what kept me away from these productions before now.

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