Saturday, January 06, 2007

Eternal flame


I work kitty corner to the place where Sir Frederick Banting discovered insulin. The site is now known as the Banting House National Historic Site, and it has an eternal flame on the front lawn.

The problem with eternal flames is they aren't always visible. This one burns with such low intensity that you really have to concentrate your gaze to see any orange flames at all. But even if the flames are barely visible, the roiled, superheated air creates its own spectacle, and is equally worthy of a picture or two.

Flame or no flame, it's a humbling place to visit. And to think I can look out the window anytime and see it. Neat.

Your turn: Do you live/work near any locations of note?

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Where to begin! Folsom Dam, Folsom, Sutter's Fort, Sutter's Mill (gold discovery site), State Capital Building(s), Governor's Mansion, and up the hill a bit there's the "Jewell of the Sierra," Lake Tahoe!! More? Perhaps in photos some other time...

And to think I used to Hate Sacramento!

Mike.

BTW: - Michele sends her best!

kenju said...

NO. I am either working at home or at another florist's shop, and the only thing notable near there is a crematory....LOL

Welcome home, Carmi. How far was your trip in miles?

Jessica said...

Hmmmm.... nothing of note by my work unless you count Kirstie Alley stopping by on occasion when she's visiting her sister who works close by.

Michele sent me.

Anonymous said...

Notable sites in my neighbourhood? Beautiful old maple trees, fields, forests, a quiet country town, and, unfortunately, rampaging new house construction that threatens to turn our piece of the countryside into a concrete and asphalt jungle of breeding boxes.

Anonymous said...

In London, I am near so much history. I can hardly think of it all. From the Tower Bridge, Windsor, Buckingham Palace, Oxford, Cambridge to the prominent Harrow School next door...I love that all these places are right at my fingertips! I probably need to remember that when I am having a rough day...time to count my blessings.

Anonymous said...

I live near the Solano-California State Prison...It's kind of impressive, especially at night when its all lit up. Charles Manson was once housed there. And oddly, it feels safer being that close to the prison...

Anonymous said...

I live a few blocks away from where Sinatra was born and a few more blocks away from where the first baseball game was played.

I work about a half hour walk north of Ground Zero and a few blocks away from where the first pizza in America was sold. (And their pizza is still really amazing, even if it is expensive and not sold by the slice.)

Anonymous said...

I think it's nice that you notice things like this, that are right under your nose. All too often it is too easy to take things around us for granted.

I liked your photo. Your pics are inspirational to me as I have only recently got a dSLR camera adn I am enjoying getting to know it.

Thanks for your kind comment on my blog. It is much appreciated.

Here from Michele's this time.

Juggling Mother said...

I live almost opposite the historical home of Albert Victor Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Hillsborough although other than a little blue plaque nobody knows and I'm pretty certain nobody cares:-(

I was working for the council leisure dept when Ground Force did Jill dando's garden, so watched it being planted, and have visited it a numer of times since - nice an relaxing:-)

Weston's not that exciting really, but there is history everywhere in the UK: I was working in wedmore for a few weeks a few months ago - where Alfred The Great signed the treaty with the Danes, and Stonehenge is just down the road (although I prefer Avebury), and of course, our earest city, Britol, is littered with history:-)

Anonymous said...

Eternal flame, flickering on the backdrop of the former O-Pee-Chee candy factory. Ironic in its own way.

Alex.

Anonymous said...

Nowhere of note visable to me from work. The company is situated on the edge of town and the estate is all designed to look like we're in the middle of the countryside, not on the edge of it, and it works!

David Edward said...

work? what are you talking about? I have pictures to take. hehe

Anonymous said...

The thing about this photo is that while the flame maybe elusive, the ripple impact of the heat on air is not. You can see the heat - see the way it bends the light in short waves. It's quite poetic really. One's life may be like that flame. Sometimes people don't see it for what it's worth. Yet the impact we have on the world ripples out on such a larger scale. Perhaps even without anyone knowing what started the wave to begin with.

And no, my office is near nothing interesting or fun...unless you consider the Starbucks worth mentioning.

utenzi said...

Michele sent me, Carmi.

Yep. I couldn't see the flame but I could certainly see the thermal disturbance of the air, Carmi.

There's not much noteworthy within 10 miles of me but just a little further and you encounter UNC and Duke University and they both have some noteworthy places on campus.

Anonymous said...

My office is in downtown Fredericton, full of loyalist history. I'm two doors away from the legislature, the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, across the street from Officer's Square where in the winter (if we ever get one) people skate and in the summer, tourists gather for the changing of the guard.

Most important........I'm a couple of steps away from the Saint John River and can walk along the path every day enjoying the scenery and city of stately elms........ :)

Love it here!!!

Anonymous said...

I live just outside of Boston, MA. Within a half-hour, I can drive and see the places where my country's ideals took root. And, see how far away from those ideals we've moved.

Anonymous said...

I live less than a mile from Rick James's grave.

Here via Michele, superfreak.

p

Anonymous said...

hahaha! I live near the "origin of the kaskakee river"... at least, that is what the sign on Interstate 74 says, both west and east, about 20 miles from home. Why is this funny? because there is nothing but farmland there. No water. No lake or creek. Just soybeans and the sign declaring that it is the origin of some river. Makes me laugh uproariously every. single. time.