The Iceberg From Hell

So as promised the story of how I almost was killed by an iceberg...

Once upon a time I dated a fellow that was not Teapot.  His parents had a yacht of sorts and we spent many weekends out cruising around the shores of Newfoundland. Behind the yacht, we always towed a small Boston Whaler that would act as a life boat if ever we needed it. It would take us hither and yon when we were exploring small inlets and bays too, but mostly we used it for picking up scuba gear after the guys had done their dives from the back of the yacht. The yacht that we cruised on would often meet up with other yachters and champagne breakfasts were often exchanged in the course of the weekend... other cocktails were often part of the weekend too. We had a hired hand to drive the yacht when drinking was part of the day... he never drank when driving so all was safe. Of course drinking in such circumstances required the very novel ice from icebergs.

Now if you know anything about icebergs then you will know that most icebergs hide the majority of their ice below the surface which means that the constant washing of the sea water makes them very unstable indeed unless they are grounded which means that they are actually so far in shore that they are sitting on the bottom of the ocean.  If they are floating then at any time they will flip over and show a different part of themselves as a new portion becomes subject to the constant battering of the waves.  Icebergs really are something to be steered clear of because when they flip it is like the titanic sinking and creates a undertow and will pull anything close by, under the water and take it down to the bottom. They always made me nervous.  I have seen towering cathedrals of ice flip over in an instant with a crash that reminded me of something out of the"Poseidon Adventure". If a whale can give a boat a pretty good knock... and believe me they can... then one of these towers of ice can wipe you off the face of this earth with an ease and simplicity that is unspeakable.

One summer we had been out yachting every weekend for ages and each time we went out we passed a small bay in which there was an iceberg grounded. Slowly it was rotting away as the tides did their thing and broke it down little by little. Final we passed it one weekend and it was as close to shore as something so colossal could get... it was finally grounded after weeks of sliding in and out of this small bay.

Yachters have a voracious need to try the most crazy stunts in an effort to outdo each other so that they can pat themselves on the back for coolness. (Which resembled stupidity in some instances!) The father of the fellow who I had been dating was relatively sane compared to some of the yachters out there.... but being a heavy social drinker, he felt that some iceberg ice for their drinks would be awesome. And so he importuned my knight in shining armour to take the Boston Whaler in the small cove where the iceberg lay against the shore to see if there were any small growlers that we could pick up and put in the cooler.

Growlers are small chunks of ice that break off when and iceberg is battered enough by the waves that it flips... as the berg flips these great chunks of ice crack off and float away from the main berg... some can be as small as a dinner plate and some can be as large as a Volkswagon.... but generally they are not dangerous. The problem is that a berg that has grounded will have very few... a berg that has not flipped in a while will also have very few. The best time to get ice is when a berg has just flipped and is relative stable for a while.

Our goal was to take the Boston Whaler into the cove in search of growlers that had broken off the main berg. Not a difficult task except there was a bit of a sea on... waves were not bad but the tide was certainly there.  The yacht was too large to enter the cove safely but the Boston Whaler was just fine for the task. The young fella and myself climbed into the Boston Whaler with the hired hand and headed slowly into the cove. The first thing we noticed was that the tidal waves were funneling into the cove and of course if you are aware of wave theory (I love wave theory) regardless of the area a wave takes up it has the same energy and the energy has to displace the same amount of volume. This translates to... the smaller the space for the wave, the larger the wave.  The waves were pretty damn big in the cove. One minute we were facing the sky and the next minute we were facing the depths below us. However, we persevered knowing that once in the cove the waves would abate somewhat as the cove widened out fairly well. Still it was harrowing for a few minutes.

We could see the berg ahead and so we headed around it carefully staying fairly far away from it. By this I mean thirty to thirty-five feet. We could not see any growlers as the berg had been there for weeks and so we headed around for a second try.

Another thing you need to know is that you never circle an iceberg more than once because this will create waves too and will often knock a berg over if it has not been knocked over for a while.... but we felt fairly confident that that this berg was not going anywhere since it was so close to shore and surely was grounded.

After the second go round, we gave up on finding any growlers and so decided to head back out of the cove to the yacht awaiting us. That's when we heard it. There was the great sound of a horn waling from the yacht... a warning signal to let us know that we were not in a safe situation. This we had already worked out.... from previous trips. The lad I was with turned and looked over his shoulder and there high above us was the berg in the process of flipping....

We knew we were safe from the flip because we were far enough away from it.... what we knew we weren't safe from was the undertow that would be left by the vacuum of the flip itself. He gunned the engine and headed for the neck of the cove, which wouldn't have been so bad if the waves of the tide had not energized in the narrow opening, but once again we found ourselves facing the sky one minute and then the dark depths below us, only this time at speeds which were definitely not safe.

Obviously we survived or I would not be writing about this now.... but it was harrowing and scary. The berg flipped creating a huge undertow.... and then a backwash of waves rather a bit like a Tsunami. We did go back in and get the growlers that we wanted but I have never forgotten the sight of that berg towering over us... it so large and awesome.... us so small and fragile.

And there you have it... the story of one of my many life and death experiences.... but it was a beautiful day indeed.

After the bugger flipped.

Three Nights Ago...

... I lay in my bed with no curtain to cover the window. The day had been mild and above me, outside the window, hung grand icicles, some as long and as large around as a man's arm. It was quiet and dark in the night and it hadn't begun to snow yet. In the sky hung the biggest moon I have ever seen. And lucky I was to see it, because for the next few days, it would be cloudy skies prevailing. But on that night, a rare, big, round, quivering moon hung in the sky, perfect in her crystalline beauty.  It pierced my eyes even when they were closed, with a jagged edge so sharp it would give me no peace. And so I lay there, burdened with its beckoning.

And with its crystalline beauty came a night blue in it coldness. A heartless night, sharp and clear for those of us affected by its beauty. It pierced my mind, it pierced my heart and filled me with a longing for things untouched by man. For the sparkle of light in my eye. For magic. For the ethereal. For that which is beyond me. Indeed, for that which is beyond the means of the merely mortal.

All around me was this quaking pleasure of beauty sublime. The white of the snowy jacket enveloping the world, added to the favours of the mistress of the night. And there in the piercing light came the call of the wild... the call for which I was waiting. A howl so infinitely primordial that one could only respond in the recesses of the heart. But it filled me with the knowledge that I was not alone in my worship of the moon... an all encompassing moon, for which no one, no thing, can deny. Not even the tides of the ocean could deny this sparkling moon. Grappling my way to the edge of the sill, I looked out on a scene profound in it universal call. A scene, that not only took me whole through vision but through each and every sense, reached out and touched me. And for a moment, for just a simple moment I was the moon itself completely enveloped in its cold and beautiful grasp. And when it let go of me I lay back down on my soft warm bed and felt a tear well from my eye for I knew that the moon had given me a pleasure that was divine in it breathless blessing.

Way Too Fr---in' Much Snow

I haven't seen this much snow since I left good ole Newfy. We are basically buried. (Actually that's not really true since the snow is not even up to the bottom of the windows and that used to be a regular occurrence when I lived back home.) Still it feels like we are buried since I've lost a toboggan under the drifts of snow that I usually use for hauling hay to the animals. And there is still snow in the forecast. Two years ago when we did our house addition, we started on the first of April and there was no snow left. I don't think that is going to happen this year.  I'm even going to have to call a plow and see if I can get the driveways plowed again after this last dump of snow. And still there's snow in the forecast.

A quick trip out to the horse's pen this morning to bring her some apples and water for her breakfast, then up to the sheep's paddock to see if we had those lambs yet and Fanny is still hanging on, she is now three weeks over due. Still maybe she didn't take on the first go round with the ram. So maybe she will lamb soon. Hopefully not till Teapot gets back because I really don't want to be nursing her lambs or God Forbid I have to pull them... my hands just don't have the strength in them to pull lambs. Then it was up to the alpaca paddock to check on Dex. He's still lying around a lot and having problems with pooping. He's being very difficult about taking water... water would help, I know. BUt at least he's not keeled over on his side and he is eating.

Teapot gave me a nice long coat for Christmas... I do have to say that I love it. I wear it over my nightgown with my nice warm boots and I can do the morning chores without getting dressed... It is lovely to come in and put my feet up with a nice cup of tea and still be in my nighty... it is quite decadent actually. And like the Scotsman, don't ask me what I wear under my kilt... uhhh nighty! : )

Teapot has departed avec the camera once again so I am without a pic to post... so I'll give you another little taste of my life in the ancient past....

At a friend's graduation... about 24 yrs.

Gotta love those Newfy Forests.

Pops and me in the garden.

Hours of entertainment for Teapot.

My grandparents who would be turning in their graves if they knew they were going online and around the world.

My favorite dog and childhood pet.

The iceberg that almost killed me. More about that next time.

I'm off to do some work on my homework. Finally... oh yeah the PCSW newsletter is finally done.

Really Tired

It's been a long day. No teapot tonight to cuddle with on a stormy cold night. He's on a bus headed for skiing with Daughter #1. I've hauled water only to find out that the water had drained away on the drive home because the gravity pipe dropped down below the level of the water and... woosh... out came all that water. I've fed animals though I do have to say that Daughter #2 has been an awesome help to me. I've run errands and dragged buckets of water to the animals. In the end it just makes me appreciate a good man.

I'm so exhausted I'm having trouble concentrating and tomorrow's another day.. I'm off for a few hours of sleep.

Good night...

Today, Tomorrow, and Yesterday...

Today:
1. FSJ for the last installment on the spindling course. All went well.
2. Dex seems to be a little better. Making sure he drank water from a baby bottle seems to have helped and then we gave him about three cups of oats last night. Then this morning Teapot got him up on his feet for a little while before he lay down but not on his side. He is eating hay though we are supplementing with oats. And half a bucket of water this morning. That's better.

Tomorrow:
Sunday.... ahhh.... relax and maybe spin.... forget that! I'm back to the PCSW newsletter. : (

Yesterday:

I always did love dogs.

Ok... that's just weird.

Does anyone ever take pictures of me without my tongue hanging out?!

Yup that's all I've got today.....

The Damn Moose, Dex, And Some Sun On My Back

I was off this morning at 7 am sharp chasing a moose away from my bales of hay. I got him on the run pretty good and he headed off down through the trees that borders our land. That's when I discovered that my day was not going to be good.

Dexter is sick... real sick. I've put a call into the vet. It's not good. Dexter is on his side and won't get up. We've removed him to the barn but there he lies and there he stays. We've tried twice to get him on his feet. He stands for no more than a few short seconds and then he keels over again on his side. He's weak and we're not sure why. I'm working on it. We'll see. But I'm not hopeful.

There's sun on my back today and I've been busy between the barn and meds for Dex, and trying to get the PCSW newsletter finished. I'm so glad when I'm on the floor of the barn trying to coax his meds into Dex's mouth, that the sun is shining. It gives me the feeling that all is not lost yet. But I'll be honest, it's hard to keep smiling when you know that one of your animals is down and might not get up.

So here I sit once again behind the computer monitor and sometimes I wonder if I spend more time here than anywhere else in this house.  I'll be glad when Teapot and the girls get home this afternoon and they can help take my mind off what's happening in the barn. I hate to see one of my animals down but an alpaca... somehow it just seems wrong.  Sheep are butchered regularly so when we lose one it usually because they were born late or just weren't good eaters and were weak to begin with... if they die somehow it doesn't seem so bad. But Dex has always been healthy. Yes, I'm very much afraid that he is dying.

Every four hours for meds.... maybe we can save him... I'll let you know... meanwhile thank God for that sun today.

I'd better go and try him with some water.

Call Me Fickle If Ya Want, 'Cause... I Love the Colour Green.....

Happy St Paddy's Day to ye all! With St. Paddy's day upon us you couldn't ask for a better day for the green. So I say, "Top of da marnin' to ye!" Too bad there's no green out the door. Just white as far as the eye can see.  That's the snow, and so it tis. Still, yesterday was the first day in ages that there was any sign of spring. The snow was melting off the roof and it actually got up to -1 degree. I am happy to say that it is sunny once again dis marnin'. The sun is  rising over the 'orizon and is cheering me, and that's for sure. Along with that I had a little leppycaun come for a visit to me header this morning and so, being polite, in the hopes that he might part with a little of his gold, I asked him to come and stay a while... but the bloody ruddy ting is sittin' there as large as life with not a sign of the gold and look at those great fearsom hands about to grab the wee bugger and nip him into a cage. I'll have the wee bugger's gold yet!

Yes I know that the "look" of my blog has once again changed... I was not happy with the cut up look of the background, and so, decided to simplify. These pooffy things to the left and the right,  remind me of cotton bolls and that's what I have used as my header background... spun cotton... and since I'm dying for a little green in my life... well thus the colour. 

For the last few days I've been busy getting those mitten knitted for the person who requested them last weekend. And finally I finished them yesterday. Now I just have to pack them up and get the in the mail today. Also I have been working on the PCSW newsletter which will be ready to go out very soon... there's one more article to go up and an application form for the scholarship and a few other small items and I'm done. Then I can get back to my own work.  I have been doing a little stitching on a Swedish Weave sampler so that I can put that in the newsletter. I've even dyed some yarn green for the Swedish Weave sampler (and you couldn't ask for a better colour today!)

But as a result it has been overwhelmingly busy and level 4 homework languishes. The other ting that's been going on is that the whole family has been gearing up for march break. The JCR trip which Teapot and Daughter#1 were going on was cancelled and then yesterday there was an email confirming that the trip would go ahead after all, and so they will be leaving for skiing in Smithers on Monday. On again... off again... and in this case, back on again! I'm happy for them though, as that will mean that Daughter #1 is looking forward to a trip that she has wanted to do for several years. It's all good.

But I need to get to the Swedish Weave sample and I might just try to catch a leprechaun and if I can't get the gold from him then I'll at least settle for one of these.

Oh! There he goes now..... I'm off then!