If you stop by the Lake Ontario shoreline by the mouth of the Eighteen Mile Creek you will see this prominent rectangular structure about fifty metres out in the water. So what is it? I think this feature is one of the more interesting geographical puzzles in our area. With its geometric shape it is obviously not a natural feature. Yet this area has a certain remoteness about it. So let's begin by taking a wider view.
Here we still see the feature but also the coastal bluffs which are typical along the Lake Ontario shoreline. You can also probably get a sense of the fact that there is a significant amount of erosion as the energy of the waves undercuts the bluffs. So we could probably infer that the mystery block was at one point in time actually on the land along the shoreline. Here is an.other view of the coastal bluffs taken in the opposite direction (towards the east).
So here we need to think about the other clues. We are at the mouth of the 18 Mile Creek. Prior to the 1940's there was no Queen Elizabeth Way as a major east-west route. So, quite likely, there would have been a road running along the lakeshore connecting St.Catharines with Hamilton. Such a road would have had to cross the mouth of the 18 Mile Creek and would therefore need a bridge which would mean concrete footings. So here is our likely conclusion.
It's interesting to speculate about the route of this old road. There seem to be no similar blocks in the water by 15, 16 and 20 Mile Creek. So was the road further inland at these other locations or are the footings further out hidden under the water? I guess we'd need to look up some old maps.
I wrote a song called "Paradigm Shift" in the Spring of 2011 after reading a blog that Stu Vickars had posted on Facebook. This song was followed by my first music video which I envisioned after seeing some of the video editing work done by Annette Mills in England.
The opening sequence was from a video clip that I made on a visit to my cabin in early May of 2010 when snow started falling so I thought this "shift" of winter snow into Spring seemed an appropriate image for my video.
The sunset image taken along the QEW near the Dufferin gates of the CNE seemed also appropriate for this video with its contrast of natural lighting from the sun on the clouds and the artifical lighting of the rear tail-lights of the cars on the highway.
The images of the old world map and the new view from space are also meant to portray a "paradigm shift".
For the line "Don't let a tyrant rule over you" I decided to use a bit of comic relief with the photo taken of myself in Ohio (Stop Double Dipping Dave) rather than some current real world tyrant. At this time in our history a number of tyrants were being tossed off. The Halloween decoration of the witch is also comic relief and here I think of Wizard of Oz.
The images from the second verse are meant to be positive as opposed to the mostly negative images from the first verse. These photos were provided to me, at the last minute, by Stu Vickars. I hope they portray a sense of people helping each other in an environmentally friendly way.
The sunset images near the end are meant to cycle back to the cabin location and give a sense of change, as one paradigm ends and another begins.
I'd like to consider what makes my hometown, St. Catharines, unique. Perhaps the greatest feature is that it is sandwiched between large areas of orchards and vineyards. How many other cities can say this about themselves? I recall living in Toronto for a year and when I came home some weekends on the train the dominant image in my mind was the fruit growing farmlands. When you consider all of the events in the city, this fact is also substantiated by the fact that the Grape and Wine Festival is the major event of the year. So I think the preservation of these fruit farms is essential to the vitality of our city. Perhaps we need to focus more on this theme. I only know one local songwriter who has incorporated this motif into his songs.
Perhaps the second most distinguishing feature of St.Catharines is the series of Welland Canals that has been part of the landscape. Here we have a major shipping canal but also 3 historical routes in addition to the present one. So along these major routes we had the beginnings of a number of small villages, Port Dalhousie, St.Catharines and Merritton which eventually amalgamated. Once again, we have something quite unique but I don't believe we have really used this feature to the potential it could have.
There are other features, in a geographic context, which have had defining influences on our city. There is a lakefront location and a prominent escarpment along the southern edge. Both of these have affected the road pattern, among other things. However, these are not as unique as the fruitlands and canals would be. That is where St.Catharines should really define itself.
