MikeL

I believe the American Queen is no longer in service; it is docked at Beaumont, TX. See: http://www.steamboats.org/steamboat-pictures/american-queen.html The infamous trapping was between two bridges was in Cincinnati rather than Cleveland. The American Queen later had a problem passing under a bridge at Cairo, IL due to high water.

Not to mention Leave the Pieces in the Premium section. They are all great stories.

There is no end to the ways some people get their feelings hurt. Maybe this guy felt cheated out of a chance to perv on you, Vic.

The General Jackson, a popular attraction on the Cumberland River in Nashville has smokestacks designed to be turned back parallel to the top deck so that it can cruise under the numerous low clearance bridges in the downtown area. You may need to enlarge the photo below to see the two stacks in their lowered position (they appear above the top deck just to the right of the "Caremark" sign). The smokestacks aren't essential to the operation of the sternwheeler; it runs on diesel engines which exhaust at the stern. Most passengers are never aware of the stacks being lowered; they are inside enjoying dinner and a show.

Wow, Joey! This latest chapter was tremendous and took another very dark turn. There is still evil around. How are you going to save Felix?

Is it not strange that Jame shows up at the same time as Thompson and Emily? And why did Juanita alert Milo that Jame was there but not that anyone else was? Definitely a cliffhanger.

I agree with Alphadog about Rachel being alive; if she is, Australia seems a likely location for her. I have no idea why she would disappear and fake the sinking of her boat. I still think this whole issue of Trevor being gay has created a communications problem between him and his dad because Dirk is also gay but doesn't realize Trevor is. Dirk doesn't want to discuss his sexuality with his son. I don't know what you read in this chapter that makes you think Dirk isn't gay and is not going north frequently to see his lover. One question: Are there no gay lawyers in Florida?

The old bridge over the Mississippi at Cape Girardeau was replaced in 2003. The new bridge is shown below: The bridge has a clearance of 60 feet. Clearance would vary significantly depending on the time of year, usually being less in the spring when the Mississippi carries virtually all the snow melt from the Midwestern US and nearly all drainage from the west of the Appalachian Mountains. Nearly half of the land area of the US lies within the Mississippi River basin: The Atlantis would have other problems "sailing" up the Mississippi. One is the lack of southerly winds plus the fact that the river meanders a lot, essentially flowing all different directions. Another is the strong southward current. The only practical approach would be to dismantle the Atlantis' main mast and burn a lot of fuel motoring up the Mississippi and Missouri to Nebraska.

Nope. You look at least twice that. Your eyes are still remarkably blue. I would suggest you stick with blue shirts exclusively. They will accent your eyes while red shirts with red hair are tricky.

Obama is left-handed. I don't suppose that's significant...he just wasn't on Grasshopper's list.

Being left-handed was not always considered normal and the English language reflects this. ~ Kitty Burns Florey, Script & Scribble, The Rise and Fall of Handwriting, Melville House Publishing Company, Brooklyn, NY, 2009, p. 91

Great Chapter 21, Joey. It's a little spooky how several people, including the children, are coming to the conclusion that something bad is happening in Forkridge. I'm looking forward to how the teens handle Aimee and Georgia and escape harm. I hope they do all escape.

We don't know Dirk's motive for suggesting the trip to Australia; I think, too, he was intending that Trevor fly there. We don't know the circumstances surrounding Rachel's disappearance; finding her in Australia won't necessarily result in Trevor being more hostile toward his father...it depends on the explanation for her disappearance. Any trips Dirk is making to see his attorney could be totally unrelated to the mystery surrounding his wife.

Sorry, I'm usually good at spotting sarcasm. Shouldn't have taken you so seriously.

Graeme, neither of your sons volunteered a negative comment about their classmates. The studies behind this book were different. Researchers showed young children pictures of a black and a white child and asked them which was good and which was bad. Very well said, Yang Bang. Children see very few gay couples. Without being told or asked what they think, they form the opinion (or feeling) that heterosexual couples are the norm. How do we change that?

You have a good point. We don't know know with certainty that Rachel is dead. The only sure thing is that she is missing. Dirk had suggested Trevor go to Australia at Christmas to meet his mother's family. She may be there too. Sailing, sailing, over the bounding main. For many a stormy wind shall blow E'er Jack comes home again. Oh, sailing, sailing, over the bounding main. For many a stormy wind shall blow E'er Jack comes home again.

Why not? That's what's indicated by the story title. Why would the story be put on hold? The story will be about the adventure. It's what you call an adventure story. Why is that? I'm sure Trevor would like to have his best friend sail with him, but it's not necessary. The most noteworthy circumnavigations are solo trips. There have been several over the years, including some by teenagers and some by the elderly.

Nor do I. Under my cell phone plan, AT&T charges me 20

Given the title of the story, I have to believe he intends to circle the globe in Atlantis. His thoughts about the space shuttle liftoff he had just witnessed seem to make that obvious. I think he's on his way. It will be a risky adventure with the possibility of many cliffhangers along the way. As everyone knows, some of the highest cliffs on earth are on the ocean bottoms.

I recommend you listen to NPR's interview with Shankar Vedantam about his new book The Hidden Brain. The audio recording lasts approximately 8 minutes and heterosexuality vs. homosexuality is discussed about 3

This is a very good chapter , Jack. I hope everything will work out well for Jack and Cray. Drew and Bob certainly are handling things well and are still protecting Cray. I hope the next chapter will be even happier.

Jack Scribe has released Chapter 14 of Shifting Sands. The chapter title is "UNPUZZLING THE ZIGSAW ".

Chapter 20 was great, Joey...very impressive. You handled the details of the funeral very well, your words painting a picture of an impressive scene. Now we see more of what Aimee and Georgia have planned and who their victims are intended to be. Let's just hope the sharp eyes of Jessica and Lenore will lead to swift action. A personal note on your earlier comment...I don't recall my father ever saying "thank you". He wasn't crass or rude. He simply used the words "much obliged" rather than "thank you". It is a stronger, deeper sentiment, an obligation that goes beyond simple thankfulness. I haven't heard it in quite a few years now and am much obliged to you for for using those words.

I hope we can move on from our differing opinions of what constitutes a cliffhanger. I hope more people will read my poetry and comment on what it means to them. Thanks to all who do.

Thanks for your comments, C. J. None of my poems is a cliffhanger. I don't think short poems such as I have written can even have cliffhangers. I wouldn't know how to write one. In addition, amphibians have a well know aversion to cliffhangers and are very careful to avoid the foul things. I suppose a very lengthy epic poem could have a cliffhanger at the end of a section. Such epic poems are generally classics and are not published in serial form, so a cliffhanger would be almost unnoticeable.