Porteus, Andrew C. Niagara Mornings. Niagara Falls, Ont. Grey Borders Press, 2016
Click to see the Niagara Mornings photographs on Youtube (quick version)
Click to see the Niagara Mornings photographs on YouTube (longer version, with dates & weather conditions)
From p. 1 & 2 of Niagara Mornings:
“For many years I drove down the Niagara Parkway from my home in Fort Erie to my workplace, Niagara Falls Public Library. Sir Winston Churchill called this drive “the prettiest Sunday drive in the world,” and I was privileged to drive it for so many years. I was stopped many times in traffic jams, usually Canada gesse crossing the road with their goslings, but also for deer, foxes, and on one notable occasion a bald eagle.
“As I drove beside the river I noticed that every day it was different – the waves came from different directions depending on the wind conditions, the colour of the water was different depending on the cloud cover, the angle of the sun, if there had been a storm, and the height of the water along the bank differed also.
“As I would pass Niagara Falls, it too, looked different from day to day.
“In late 2006 I decided to take a photograph of the falls and the upper gorge from the same spot to try to document these changes. After much wandering around I decided the best place to see both sets of waterfalls and the river at their base was from the Rainbow Bridge.
“I started taking the photographs on January 2, 2007 & tried to keep it around the same time every day, between 8:15 and 8:30 a.m., and did drive down on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays to try for as complete a record as I could get. So every day I had to pay my 50¢ to get on to the bridge, and then came back through Customs to get back in. The Customs agents thought it was a bit odd, but most of them were pretty good about it.
“I have also for many years run a website of poetry of Niagara Falls at the Niagara Falls Poetry Project (niagarapoetry.ca), so it made sense to me to include some of the poems of Niagara along with these photographs.
“This book is being published as I end my career in libraries (although I will still be active in libraries and library associations as a volunteer) and the shift in focus to writing more about the Niagara area and other topics, as well as being able to concentrate more on my poetry website.”
Poetry Contents
• Anonymous. Untitled. (All hail, Niagara! by thine awful noise.
• Boz. Untitled
• Brainard, John G. C. The Falls of Niagara
• Crapsey, Adelaide. Niagara, Seen on a Night in November
• Dollard, Father James B. Loretto Convent, Niagara Falls
• Frechette, Louise Honoré. Niagara
• Heredia, José María. Niagara (1825 version) Translated by William Cullen Bryant
• Lover, Samuel. Nymph of Niagara
• Morpeth, Lord Niagara Falls
• Rowland, C. W. Eternal – Beautiful – Serene – Sublime
• Sigourney, Lydia Huntley. Niagara
• Weir, Arthur. Love’s Changeableness