The one in the foreground is the Creole Queen. In the back and astern is the steamer Natchez, a genuine steam-powered boat. (The Creole Queen is a diesel-electric boat.) Both of these fine ships take visitors on cruises around the Port of New Orleans, and as luck would have it, I lucked out and caught a shot of them both heading out at the same time.
The downside of the day came from Belle stepping in front of me as we were walking along, causing me to stumble and fall, hitting the ground HARD as I tried to avoid landing on her. My hand and arm are feeling it today, but at the time, it was nearly a minute before I could get back up, so I lay there in the sidewalk as my two "loyal" dogs stood there looking down at me. Then Belle casually laid down beside me, just like we were supposed to be reclining on the public thoroughfare.
Remember all those times Timmy fell down some well and Lassie ran to get help? (Ask you parents--or Old NFO--if you do not get the reference.) It's good for Timmy that he had a smart Collie, because Belle would probably have just jumped in with him. At least Murphy stayed upright and kept watch. Dogs...
Hahaha!
ReplyDeleteOnce upon a time I rode one of those, can't remember which one. It was fun. Except for that damn calliope. Noisy sumbitches.
If it had a calliope it was the Natchez. And yeah, I hear it in my office now and I hear it in my house when I'm at home, and I'm about a mile from the river.
DeleteI don't believe Old NFO is as old as I am.
ReplyDeleteAnd, yeah, riverboats are cool. It's a shame that so many of them are bolted to the dock and used as a casino.
You can actually do extended cruises up and down the Mississippi now. Expensive, but I'm contemplating.
ReplyDeleteYou are sure, right, that nothing is broken? Not like the whole thing where I walked around on a broken knee cap for 10 days before going to urgent care?
You can actually do extended cruises up and down the Mississippi now. Expensive, but I'm contemplating.
ReplyDeleteYou are sure, right, that nothing is broken? Not like the whole thing where I walked around on a broken knee cap for 10 days before going to urgent care?
If she doesn't feel an immediate result of causing you to fall, she won't ever learn to pay attention to her location. I'm not saying to drop your entire weight onto her, but some portion colliding with her as you fall should help her make the connection.
ReplyDeleteWe just acquired a new German Shepherd dog. He's a year and 5 months old (still a bit of a puppy) and I swear, by his coloring, he could be Murphy's younger brother.
ReplyDeleteHe's a good dog and a real hoot most of the time, but there are other times... Yeah, you know what I mean already. As you say - dogs.
One of the things Max likes to do is follow you into a room and then plop himself down right in the doorway or directly behind you. He's a big dog, so it would be easy to trip over him like you did Belle. I am now wondering if that's an instinctive behavior of GSD's.
I'm a daily reader of your blog and a part time commenter and I was going to send this via email, but I couldn't find a contact email address.
If you don't mind an email exchange, I would like to pick your brain a little bit about how you get Murphy and Belle to behave while out in public.
If you would rather not, that's okay too. I can be reached at roy-dot-greenwell-at-att-dot-net.
About the riverboats...
ReplyDeleteI have seen the Natchez a time or two. Every year as part of the Kentucky Derby festival, we have a steamboat race on the Ohio river and the "Natchez" has participated.
The "Belle Of Louisville" is our local pride and is now recognized as the oldest river steamboat still in operation. (Originally commissioned as "Idlewild" back in 1914 it is now a National Historic Landmark.)
Oh yeah, she also has a calliope. You get two steam calliopes trying to outdo each other and it's almost as obnoxious as dueling bagpipes.
How come nobody noticed the great rainbow that ends on the Creole Queen? It's like she's the treasure.
ReplyDeleteI've got a vinyl album of Mississippi riverboat songs done by John Hartford which are all written during the heyday of the riverboats in the 1800's. He was a registered steam powered river boat captain.
You noticed it. I was wondering if anyone else would.
DeleteHad to correct my post: All the music on the album is original stuff by John Hartford, but in the style of 1800's.
ReplyDeleteI saw the rainbow.
ReplyDeleteHow is your arm and hand?