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This morning when I woke up there was a wall about 6 inches from my window.<\/p>\nThis morning when I woke up there was a wall about 6 inches from my window.<\/p>\n
This is obviously a rather unusual experience! Except if you\u2019ve been in a lock before.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been through the Panama Canal, at this point, more times that I can really remember. That\u2019s not bragging, or name dropping, it\u2019s simply one of those weird facts that goes with the job. Transiting the Canal is breathtaking the first time you go through it, but it does sometimes lose it\u2019s luster after a while. A colleague of mine back in the days of the library once said<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t matter that it\u2019s hot and dusty and there\u2019s nothing ot really see, they still all go out there and stare for hours at that big ugly ditch.<\/i><\/p>\n
That\u2019s a little harsh, as the Canal is<\/i> really beautiful in places, but it does kind of encompass the \u201csameness\u201d of the environment.<\/p>\n
This is the first time though that I\u2019ve had a cabin that has an outside view (I \u2026might have mentioned that), and because portholes are the lowest level of window on the ship, when we go through a lock, my window ends up way below the ground. It\u2019s an eerie feeling, being able to see and feel the ship lowering with nothing but these massive pitted stone walls visible. Occasionally you can even hear the grinding squeak as the hull brushes against the barriers. And it\u2019s also dark, not really dark, but an odd grey light as if the sun is leaking in around a curtain even though the curtains are open.<\/p>\n
Then there is a small, slow, nearly unnoticeable change in direction, and you can feel the ship moving upwards instead. Slowly, ever so slowly, the light comes back and the world becomes visible again.<\/p>\n
I remember doing this once before in a much much smaller boat when my family and I went on a canal boat vacation in the UK. It\u2019s still strange to think that the same technology that drives those much smaller canals is what drives this massive cut in between two continents..<\/p>\n
And what led to me having a wall outside my window for a few hours this morning\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This morning when I woke up there was a wall about 6 inches from my window. This is obviously a rather unusual experience! Except if you\u2019ve been in a lock before. I\u2019ve been through the Panama Canal, at this point, … Continue reading