Saint John's Reversing Falls

16" x 16" Oil on gallery wrapped Canvas This is one of the paintings I worked on during my week long output at the Saint John City Market as hundreds of passerbys watched, and walked through.

Reversing Falls

Twice a day, the powerful tides of the Bay of Fundy, the highest in the world, do something very unique – they push the St. John River backwards, a phenomenon called the Reversing Falls. Here’s how it works: during high tide the water rushes through the mouth of the Saint John harbor and into the Southward-flowing St. John River. This creates turbulent rapids as it encounters two ridges and a bottleneck gorge at Reversing Falls. As the tide continues to get higher, and the water in the harbor rises, the downward flow in the St. John River is slowed, then stopped. This is called "slack tide". The push of the bay’s high tides continues until the river runs in reverse – upstream. Much of Saint John is built on rock, and is situated in and around the harbor. It can enjoy a cool, foggy atmosphere in the summer, though this can change as any particular summer may not receive as much fog as the following summer.The city does receive slightly milder temperatures in the winter, over inland New Brunswick, such as places like Fredericton, the capital of the province . Looking out the north facing arched window from the stairwell landing Just took this picture a few minutes ago from the second floor stairway landing. Seen through the window is part of the rear, attached garage roof, and the unattached woodshed and its roof that extends past it. The world outside is still covered in ice, and snow, and we are receiving yet, another wind swept bit of snow as a small weather system is moving through. I was just in the woodshed a few minutes ago loading up the wheelbarrows, and bringing more wood into the house for the 2 woodstoves. On the wall is a large, blank canvas awaiting the right kind of inspiration. A few thoughts on artistic house design The interior window opposite, is a salvaged piece we placed into the wall to let more daylight enter a small room, although the room does have its own, narrow, north facing window as well. Raw cotton curtains Gwen made, drape inside the window from a steel rod, and allows for privacy. In dark shadow relief, near the bottom of the photo, is the railing and top of two banisters. They too are also salvaged from various places in our abandoned farmhouse, and country auction expeditions over the years.