{"id":23871,"date":"2023-04-21T09:50:34","date_gmt":"2023-04-21T13:50:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=23871"},"modified":"2023-04-21T09:55:17","modified_gmt":"2023-04-21T13:55:17","slug":"episode-802-the-speech-that-was-never-given-reflections-on-fossils-on-rattray-marsh-shingle-beach-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=23871","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 802 THE SPEECH THAT WAS NEVER GIVEN…. REFLECTIONS ON FOSSILS ON RATTRAY MARSH SHINGLE BEACH, PART 1"},"content":{"rendered":"
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EPISODE 802  THE SPEECH THAT WAS NEVER GIVEN<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
NOTICE OF ANNIVERSARY:  800 STORIES<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
  I HAVE NOW WRITTEN OVER 800 STORIES SINCE FEB. 27, 2020 WHEN COVID 19 PUT<\/div>\n
THE WHOLE WORLD ON FIRE    EIGHT HUNDRED STORIES!!  AMAZES ME.<\/div>\n
I HAVE TRIED TO WRITE  A STORY EVERY DAY.  WHY?  TO ENTERTAIN READERS SOME<\/div>\n
OF WHOM BECAME SHUT INS AS THE PANDEMIC SPREAD LIKE A DEADLY WILDFIRE.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
JUST WRITING THE STORIES HAS MADE ME AWARE OF MY GOOD FORTUNE IN LIFE.<\/div>\n
TEDDY ROOSEVENT URGED PEOPLE TO \u2018GET ACTION: DO THINGS\u2019. I THOUGHT THIS WAS<\/div>\n
GOOD ADVICE WHEN I READ IT BACK IN 1953.  I HAVE BEEN A LUCKY MAN. LOTS OF ACTION.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
MUCH OF THIS LUCK HAS  TO BE ATTRIBUTED TO MY WIFE MARJORIE WTH WHOM I<\/div>\n
HAVE  SHARED SO MANY ADVENTURES.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
ON THE EVENING OF FEBRUARY 29, I WAS ASKED TO DELIVER A SPEECH ON<\/div>\n
INVASIVE SPECIES IN THE GREAT LAKES.  WE HAD 100 GUESTS AT THE STONEHOOKER<\/div>\n
BREWERY IN PORT CREDIT.   MY SPEECH WAS PLANNED TO BE 30 TO 40 MINUTES LONG .<\/div>\n
THAT SPEECH WAS NEVER DELIVERED BECAUSE MARJORIE TOOK 21 MINUTES TO<\/div>\n
INTRODUCE ME.  IN EFFECT SHE BECAME THE SPEAKER.  PART WAY THROUGH HER<\/div>\n
INTRODUCTION SHE KNOCKED A WINE BOTTLE OFF THE LECTERN.  IT SHATTERED<\/div>\n
ON THE CEMENT FLOOR.  BUT MARJORIE NEVER STOPPED.  A FRIEND, SHAYMUS, <\/div>\n
GATHERED UP THE BOTTLE FRAGMENTS AS MARJORIE CONTINUED TO SPEAK.<\/div>\n
OUR SON ANDREW RAISED HIS ARM AND POINTED AT HIS WATCH.  MARJORIE DID<\/div>\n
NOT STOP. SHE HAD PRACTISED HER SPEECH AND WAS HELL BENT FOR ELECTION <\/div>\n
TO DELIVER IT. THE AUDIENCE ENJOYED HER SO MUCH THAT I TAILORED MY SPEECH<\/div>\n
FROM 40 MINUTES TO 10 MINUTES\u2026WHICH SATISFIED THE AUDIENCE.  WHAT A JOY<\/div>\n
IT WAS  TO LISTEN TO HER.  HOW MANY HUSBANDS HAVE HAD THEIR WIVES DO SUCH<\/div>\n
?<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
THE NEXT DAY, MARCH 1, 2020 COVID 19 BEGAN TO SPREAD AROUND THE WORLD<\/div>\n
KILLING HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
TODAY,  APRIL 20 2023, EIGHT HUNDRED STORIES LATER COVID 19 IS STILL PRESENT.<\/div>\n
SO I WOULD LIKE TO PRESENT THE SPEECH I NEVER GAVE IN  CHUNKS\u2026.IN SHORT<\/div>\n
STORIES SOME OF WHICH YOU MIGHT KNOW BUT OTHERS THAT MIGHT<\/div>\n
CATCH YOUR INTEREST.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
SEVERAL PEOPLE HAVE ASKED IF I AM WRITING  BOOK.  I AM NOT. A BOOK DEMANDS<\/div>\n
TOO MUCH TIME.  LIFE IS TOO SHORT FOR THAT.  MY STORIES ARE SHORT\u2026TAKING<\/div>\n
JUST A LITTLE LONGER THAN IT TAKES FOR A WINE BOTTLE TO FALL FROM A LECTERN<\/div>\n
AND SHATTER..    THEY CAN ALL BE FOUND ON THE INTERNET TITLED \u2018ALAN\u2019S OEUVRE\u2019<\/div>\n
(ALAN\u2019S WORKS) THANKS TO DIRK TOWNSEND.  OR SIMPLY \u2018ALAN SKEOCH.CA\u2019<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
SOMETIMES THE LANGUAGE IS A LITTLE COARSE\u2026SOMETIMES PERSONAL\u2026SOMETIMES<\/div>\n
ISSUE ORIENTED\u2026WHATEVER!  JOHN WARDLE HAS PUBLISHED EACH STORY IN HIS<\/div>\n
DAILY JOURNAL, THE CASTLEFIELD INSTITUTE, WHJICH HONOURS JOHN RICKER WHO<\/div>\n
MOIVATED SO MANY OF US TO ENJOY THE STUDY OF HISTORY AND  TO JOIN TOGETHER<\/div>\n
IN THOUGHTFUL CONVERSATION ABOUT THE WORLD AROUND US. <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
THIS IS NOT THE END OF THE STORIES.  MY TARGET IS 1,000\u2026WHILE MEMORY SERVES.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
ALAN SKEOCH<\/div>\n
APRL 20, 2023<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

EPISODE 802   REFLECTIONS ON FOSSILS ON RATTRAY MARSH SHINGLE BEACH,  PART 1<\/p>\n


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alanskeoch<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n
PART ONE<\/div>\n

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alan<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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Marjorie  Skeoch with Jack, our grandson, on the wondrous shingle beach<\/div>\n
at the outlet of the Rattray Marsh in Mississauga.<\/div>\n


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<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
March  11, 2020<\/div>\n

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\u201cLet\u2019s take a walk, Marjorie,<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

      \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n

      \u201cpretend we are in a time machine\u2026and can go back in time.\u201d<\/div>\n
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\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cThere is a shingle beach AT the Rattray Marsh\u2026good place to start.<\/div>\n

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(Note, the Rattray Marsh is one of the wonders  of the City of Mississauga,  It slumbers behind  a rock  strewn beach of Lake Ontario.  The southwest quadrant of<\/div>\n
Mississauga\u2026almost approachable\u2026.definitely unforgettable.)<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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       \u201cThis Shingle Beach is one of the marvels of Mississauga\u2026strewn with small flat slabs of water washed shale.”
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\u201cWouldn\u2019t a  sand  beach be more charming?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNot at all\u2026no story obvious in grains of sand\u2026.but this shingle beach can be read like a book.”<\/div>\n
\u201cEasy to trip and fall here.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cRight\u2026if you do trip and fall you will find yourself among interesting company.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cPiles of flat stones.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cPiles of blue shale\u2026.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cDo you know how old these pieces of shale are?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t even know what shale is\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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\u201cShale was once mud\u2026pressed by the  weight of untold piles of mud\u2026heavy\u2026so much so<\/div>\n
that this ancient mud became sedimentary rock called shale.<\/div>\n
\u201cOur city, Mississauga, sits on top of a vast expanse of ancient mud\u2026for that matter the ancient mud<\/div>\n
once ground and dried became the cement that holds up all the buildings in Mississauga.<\/div>\n
And for seventy years, 1850 to 1920, slabs  of this  shale were pried up by crowbars right from<\/div>\n
the shingle beach where we are standing, pried up in great slabs, manhandled onto schooners and  sailed<\/div>\n
to Toronto as the foundations of all the great buildings of the time.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cDo you mean the Stonehookers?\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\"The<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\"EPISODE<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n
Stonehooking was a brutal profession.   Today, now that the stonehookers are gone<\/font><\/div>\n
and their ships are rotting hulks at the bottom of Lake Ontario or ground into sawdust or<\/font><\/div>\n
charcoal by the passage of time and neglect, there is a tendency to romanticize what<\/font><\/div>\n
was near the  bottom of occupations Canadians  chose in the 19th and early 20th century.<\/font><\/div>\n
Just imagine spending your work day wading in water lifting slabs of stone with crowbar<\/font><\/div>\n
and a hooked rake\u2026piling the stone on a small flat bottomed scow\u2026transferring tons<\/font><\/div>\n
of stone to a schooner\u2026sailing to Toronto three times a week with 9 to 18 tons of stone<\/font><\/div>\n
\u2026piling the stone on a rotting pier with raw sewage bubbling up\u2026then getting $10 to $15<\/font><\/div>\n
\u2026and  sailing back to Port Credit with a return load of horse manure.  Toronto was a city<\/font><\/div>\n
with thousands of horses on the streets in 1900.  <\/font><\/div>\n

<\/font><\/div>\n
END PART ONE:  STONEHOOKING 1900<\/font><\/div>\n

<\/font><\/div>\n
PART TWO:  THE SAD FATE OF THE PINTA, SUNK WITH ALL HANDS NEAR MARIGOLD POINT, PORT CREDIT<\/font><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EPISODE 802  THE SPEECH THAT WAS NEVER GIVEN NOTICE OF ANNIVERSARY:  800 STORIES   I HAVE NOW WRITTEN OVER 800 STORIES SINCE FEB. 27, 2020 WHEN COVID 19 PUT THE WHOLE WORLD ON FIRE    EIGHT HUNDRED STORIES!!  AMAZES ME. I HAVE TRIED TO WRITE  A STORY EVERY DAY.  WHY?  TO ENTERTAIN READERS SOME OF […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23871\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}