People on the Boro 8

In cold weather, the illusion exists that the sixth boro is inhabited only by machines,  which can then be anthropomorphized, but still machines.  Not so in warm weather when folks everywhere move outside.  While waiting to get some fuel, Gramma Lee seemed to scout around and crew who could, lingered on deck and –maybe upon seeing a flash of silver in the depths–

even dangled a fish line over the side.

Some like this Maryland crewman washed the house

while others like the crewman at the upper helm of Davis Sea tweaked instruments.

Lots of crew of Chemical Pioneer assisted in hauling up the towline from McAllister Girls

and this persistent blogger soon filled his foto card.

Which leads me to a new book I’d like to shout out:  On the Irish Waterfront:  the Crusader, the Movie, and the Soul of the Port of New York.   Here’s a link to the site.   The movie, of course, is “On the Waterfront. ” A very interesting interview with the author–James T. Fisher, a professor at Fordham University–is linked on the lower right (of the link above), and certainly is a worthwhile listen for a take on the people on the boro a little more than a half-century ago.

Unrelated:  Henry’s art and latest log entry are now up here.

Finally, please help me with a project:  I’d like to create a Wikipedia article for “sixth boro.”  In the spirit of “wiki-collaboration,”  kindly comment on/add to/parody as you like this beginning here, which is wikipedia-style serious:

The sixth boro is a designation for the waters that border  and separate the five boros of New York City:  Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and the Bronx.  The sixth boro is generally referred to as New York Harbor.  The term “sixth boro” attempts to reconceptualize the space of New York City by stressing the oneness of the navigable waters of New York as a means to recognize that without the water context, the other five boros would never have evolved as they did.  This is NOT a chicken-or-egg type connundrum;  the water explains the metropolis, NOT the other way around.  “Sixth boro” is an essential term, unless “prime boro”  makes the situation even clearer. 

Photos, WVD.