Christmas Eve

Walked to the home of friends last night to celebrate how much cheeses love us. The walk there was magical – no sound but that of snow crunching underfoot, the soft ticking of snow on my hood - and church bells ringing in the distance. And at midnight, it was even more magical. Thoroughly toasted, I wandered around Dundurn Castle and the cemetery for an otherworldly hour.

 The garden.

The Dundurn dovecote.

Cemetery gatehouse.

Crypts.

Cemetery.

Dinner Time View

A spot I enjoy every so often.

Dinner Time View

My view for dinner, after dinner aperitifs and reading another chunk of Seveneves.

View on an evening walk.

A spot where I sometimes stop for a little break on evening walks through the cemetery. Looking out over Princess Point, Cootes Paradise, Niagara Escarpment beyond that, with Spencer’s Gorge just to the left of centre.

Hamilton Cemetery from the Ramparts

Went with my nephew over to the cemetery so he could take some photos for me. The lad has expressed some reticence about the place before. I think all the Tim Burton movies his mom loves so much have fueled his childish imagination. Despite telling him that I have walked through there at night hundreds of times, with no zombie or vampire or ghost or werewolf attacks, he still shies away from the place. But yesterday he went with no protestations, and we spent a really fun hour over there. Maybe plying him with the Coke in a glass bottle I bought him at the Castle gift shop helped. I think he is beginning to realize that it is a nice park that just happens to have stones placed liberally throughout it.

Looking north west with the Niagara Escarpment in the distance. I’m standing atop a tomb that is atop an embankment that during the War of 1812 formed part of the defences of this, the Burlington Heights. It would have given soldiers somewhere to shelter from enemy fire while they crouched down to reload their muskets. On the left you can see some of what remains of these ramparts. The roadway you see in the centre between the two trees was cut right through it. Apparently the intention was expressed to remove them altogether, until someone pointed out their historical significance. 

Looking north east from the Hamilton Cemetery. From this spot 2401 months ago (June 6 1813), a force of 700 British soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel John Harvey set out at night and marched to Stoney Creek where they routed a force of 3400 American troops. Read more about this decisive battle in the War of 1812 here.

Looking north west from Hamilton Cemetery towards Cootes Paradise and the historically significant (the oldest known location of agriculture in Ontario) Princess Point, with the Niagara Escarpment in the distance.

And while we were there, a B25 Mitchell came roaring over.

Nice bit of time spent hanging out with the lad. I got a few photos of my latest project, had loads of fun chatting with him, and I think I helped him overcome some of his unfounded fears.

Bibliophilia: Falling into Place by John Terpstra

Falling into Place – John Terpstra

Admittedly pretty neat to read a book about a geographical feature you live atop of. The Iroquois Bar is an ancient glacial sandbar formed over eons by a body of water that predates Lake Ontario. Lots of info about the natural history, and the human history. Being a poet, he gets a bit loquacious at times, but there were some factoids in here that I was not aware of. Likely a book with a somewhat limited scope of interest, but being the geography, geology, history dork that I am, I got a lot out of it.