We're catching up on some of the odd and intriguing sights we've seen but haven't mentioned in recent reports. We hope you enjoy them as much as we did.
In Ganonoque (Gan-on-Oak-Way), where we took the Thousand Island cruise, we took a walk while waiting to board the boat. That's when we learned about Seamless Gutters. A truck was parked in front of a long building which was undergoing roof repair. In the cargo hold, one man guided Windmill or weather vane? a ribbon of metal out of a press, which turned up the sides. Three young men caught the gutter, moving down the road as it grew longer. It reminded us exactly of the cartoons of zoo-keepers holding a giant python snake, or our experience making long sheets of lasagna. No jake brakes in French
In Brockville, a picturesque old riverside town east of Kingston, we found a Personal Vision -- the ultimate windmill created by a windmill lover. See photo. In the town itself, the statue of justice on the Courthouse roof is a replica of the original wooden statue. This statue has been gaily repainted; signs say she is named locally Sally Grant. We have no idea why.
Our road from Cornwall to Ottawa (our road is seldom the fast direct road but always some smaller zigzagging one) took us into Quebec. At the Wayside cross, St. Georges Road entrance to one small town we found the sign we've seen numerless times across the continent: NO JAKE BRAKES. Sometimes it's more polite, saying something about Please do not use Engine Brakes, but the sentiment is the same. Here in Quebec the sign reads: MERCI DE NE PAS UTILISER LES FREINS Mystery rocket ship MOTEURS "JACOB."
Also in Quebec we found an object almost unknown in the U.S. The wayside cross at St. Georges Road, like those at other country intersections in Quebec, is decorated with the Gallic rooster and a collection of tools: ladder, wire cutters and hammer.
Finally (for this report, at least): we offer a Mystery Aircraft. Just South of Hawkesbury, Ontario, in the parking lot of a welding company, is a small rocket ship undergoing repair. We hope somebody who sees this photo can tell us what it is and where it has been.