Low Bridge, Everybody Down!

I'm a huge fan of modern engineering marvels such as tall buildings, nutty bridges and the like. Some of the coolest feats of mankind's building prowess are the giant canals that link many of the major waterways of the world. Don't we all want to navigate our way through the Panama Canal, just to say that we have? Heck, I've watched more than one documentary about the building of the Panama Canal and I find them super interesting, plus I've seen Arsenic and Old Lace twice. Someday I'm gonna drag Sara out to the Red Sea and float the Suez to the Mediterranean, kinda like tubing the canal in Logan.

Naturally, when I noticed on our map that we'd be driving near the Erie Canal, I immediately began searching for some convenient spot that we could stop and snap a few canal pictures. The search was short since one of the cities passed through by said canal is Palmyra! I don't remember where I heard it for the first time, but there's always been a small fraction of my brain dedicated to singing the Erie Canal song. Only when singing a song about a donkey named Sal can you actually get in touch with the angst felt by the canaleers of yesteryear. If you have never heard this song before, here's your chance, go to the following link to listen to it as sung by America's sweetheart, Bruce Springsteen. You'll be glad you did. http://www.last.fm/music/Bruce+Springsteen/_/Erie+Canal

As Bruce said, the waters of the 363 mile Erie canal flow from Albany to Buffalo, thus connecting the Hudson river to Lake Erie. Construction of the canal was begun in 1817 and completed in 1825, so this means that while Joseph Smith was living in Palmyra the canal was being built right through town. Interesting. The canal is 40 feet across and only 4 feet deep, and the dirt removed was piled in short hills along the banks. Donkeys, often named Sal, would walk along the hills, hitched up to the small barges full of cargo, hauling goods from New York to the Great Lakes. My what a job that would be. I wonder how long it takes to float the entire height of Utah at donkey speed.