Author: Marty Luster

  Acquainted with the Night

by Robert Frost

 I have been one acquainted with the night.

I have walked out in rain — and back in rain.

I have outwalked the furthest city light.

 I have looked down the saddest city lane.

I have passed by the watchman on his beat

And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

 I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet

When far away an interrupted cry

Came over houses from another street,

 But not to call me back or say good-bye;

And further still at an unearthly height,

O luminary clock against the sky

 Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.

                                       I have been one acquainted with the night.

Location, History, and Legends

The rock and reef of Norman’s Woe are a short distance from the westernmost point of Gloucester’s outer harbor. Norman’s Woe can best be seen from Hammond Castle on Hesperus Ave., off route 127 in Gloucester.

There is no clear record of how Norman’s Woe got its name. Tradition tells that a man named Norman was shipwrecked and lost there, and it is for him the rock and reef are named. John J. Babson’s history of Gloucester notes that Goodman Norman and his son settled the headland near the islet.

The history of uninhabited Norman’s Woe is the history of its many shipwrecks. One noted shipwreck was of the “Rebecca Ann” in March, 1823. In a snowstorm, all ten crewmembers were swept out to sea, and one survived by holding on to a rock in the water. Perhaps the most famous shipwreck at Norman’s Woe was of the schooner “Favorite” out of Wiscasset, Maine, in December 1839. Twenty bodies washed ashore, among them that of an older woman lashed to a piece of the ship. Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow took that story and named the ship “Hesperus” after a wreck near Boston in creating the legend of “The Wreck of the Hesperus,” the most famous “shipwreck” associated with Norman’s Woe.

Text by North Shore Community College.

Charlee at THE BOOKSTORE

We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch – we are going back from whence we came.
John F. Kennedy

Although I’m not a huge user of Photoshop or other photo editing applications, I find myself increasingly experimenting with the capabilities of these programs.

I use Photoshop Elements 6, a pared down version of the full Adobe Photoshop set up. Even so, I don’t come close to using all of the tools that are available. Also, Elements costs a fraction of the full Photoshop price.

The photo was made with my Fuji X100, at 1/220 sec, f5.6 with ISO set at 200.

As you can see, the original image was pretty ordinary and quite bland. I wanted to spice it up by conveying a feeling of speed, movement and excitement.

Step 1: I opened the image in Elements 6 and immediately duplicated the original image so I wouldn’t loose the original if I pushed the wrong button. Who says we don’t learn from experience?

Step 2: I wanted to focus attention on the tandem bike riders, so I made a substantial crop thereby eliminating some distracting background and enlarging the image of the bikers.

Step 3: Then, I carefully used the magnetic lasso tool to select the the riders and the bikes. It actually took 3 attempts to get the selection close to what I wanted. I clicked “inverse” in the select menu to keep the bikes in focus.

Step 4: With everything but the bikes and riders now selected (that’s what “inverse” does), I went to filters/blur/motion blur and applied a modest amount of that effect.

Step 4: To further accentuate the bikes and riders I slightly darkened the background (enhance/lighting/brightness contrast)and lightened the tandem riders and bike (filters/render/lighting effects/omni). I also goosed the color saturation a little and tried (without huge success) to sharpen the face of the man on the tandem.

Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Alfred Lord Tennyson, ULYSSES Click photo to enlarge.

. . .on the Boulevard.

Sandy and Steve hail from New Brunswick,  although Sandy grew up in Gloucester. They visit here frequently and certainly seemed to enjoy the the sun, ice cream, and view of the outer harbor on a perfect summer day.