Port in Winter

Port Dalhousie is a scenic little lakeside community in St. Catharines, Ontario Canada.  The town served as the original entry way to the first of three different versions of  the Welland Canal beginning in 1829 and ending in 1932 with the opening of the present version of the canal.  While Port Dalhousie may have lost some of its importance as a gateway to the continent's interior, its seafaring traditions live on to this day.

The Royal Canadian Henley Regatta, one of the world's premiere rowing championships is held annually on nearby Martindale Pond.  An influx of sailboats and yachtsmen have replaced the giant lakers that used to steam their way through the harbor and the area's most popular beach is packed in the summertime with swimmers and pleasure boaters alike.

Summer is Port Dalhousie's busy season. The community features an eclectic mix of shoppes, bars and bistros right across from Lakeside Park which was immortalized in the song of the same name by the band Rush.  While the amusement park in the song may be long gone the beach and the carousel are all that remain.

This is late Winter however and not much is happening here along the west side of the harbor where the usual pedestrian traffic would be.  Capturing the essence of summer in Port will have to wait until...well, summer.  For this walkabout on a moderate but still chilly March Sunday afternoon with my camera i decided to follow the eastern side of the harbor which has always been mainly unexplored by myself.

The eastern side of Port Dalhousie features a waterfront trail that starts near a long arched green pedestrian bridge that allows you to cross over the harbor in between two of Port's most historic sights.  Crossing the bridge and looking to your right stands the Lincoln Fabrics Factory, a typical industrial building that hasn't changed much since the turn of the century.  Your view on the left side of the bridge is the remnants of Lock 1 and its wooden gate which has remained there since the third version of the Welland Canal was last used in 1932.

The waterfront trail then takes you straight up to the end of the harbor where the old canal has been filled in.  Only a small hydro facility remains along with a weir underneath a vehicle bridge featuring four small man made but pretty waterfalls that allow the waters of Martindale Pond to eventually escape to Lake Ontario. The trail winds you around to follow the east side of the harbor. Along the way out to the farthermost reach of the eastern pier you'll encounter a few fisherman angling for trout and salmon, the Port Dalhousie Yacht Club and a couple of historic but now deactivated lighthouses.  This time of year the boats are in dry dock awaiting spring and the pier is virtually abandoned of sightseers so the geese, ducks, gulls and even swans have taken over dockside.

These are only just a few of the pictures from my late winter walk.  You can check out the rest here.  Be assured Port Dalhousie is much more scenic and colorful during summer and I'll be saving the western side, the shops, park and beach all for a return visit when the weather turns beautiful again in just a few short months.

The last addiction...

I don't even know how to write this post.  I've put it off many times because much like the topic of it i just didn't want to deal with it...quitting smoking.  Ah fuck for some it is such a trivial matter hardly worth mentioning or whining about but for me it has been something i've tried hundreds of times and failed at.  Yet again i find myself in the beginning of a quit not wanting to fail but already feeling the loneliness of a self fulfilling prophecy.

I've read tons of materials and tips, taken the nicotine replacement therapies, tried the anti smoking drugs, pounded my head with videos and demonstrations of the effects of smoking yet i still can't seem to get past even the initial first few days or week of a quit.  I've kicked other bad habits in my life much easier than it has ever been to kick smoking.

I feel bad about the failures, having put my girlfriend through countless amounts of bitch fits during quit attempts.  One of the reasons i want to quit is because of her, she isn't a smoker and I'm sure she doesn't enjoy the fact i am.  I want to quit because my mother died of lung cancer 10 years ago. I want to quit because my dad did it successfully 20 years ago.  I want to quit because its been a waste of thousands of dollars over nearly half of my lifetime.  I want to quit because I'm tired of being an addict, a slave to this addiction.  I want to quit because I'm just tired of the cough, the shortness of breath, the pains and general shitty feeling.  I want to quit because i have high cholesterol and if i don't stop I'll probably have a stroke or heart attack before I'm 40.I want to quit because i don't want yellow teeth, stained or smelly fingers and clothes and excessive dust everywhere.  I want to quit so i don't feel like i have to sneak outside at work or in front of family and smoke in shitty weather.

So i have many reasons i want to quit but yet i can never seem to get it done.  The minute i get to work I'm tempted.  The minute i have money I'm tempted to buy a pack.  I can't count the number of times i've bought a pack of cigarettes which are expensive, have a few smokes and then destroy the rest of the package.  What a waste of money.

So has this quit been any different?  Hardly...still up to my same old tricks of giving in, sneaking, wasting and failing.  I've got to pull this shit together and finally do it.  Then maybe i can take this picture of the dying cancer patient off as my iPhone wallpaper.  Then i can feel better about myself.  Then i can feel like i've accomplished something difficult which has eluded me for years.  I want to do it, i have to do it, i can do it.  I have to tell myself this over and over.  Never give in.  This is what i want, this is why i write this now.  If I'd only listen to myself.