along the river
the boys stopped
to rest
there they found
an old pump
and a metal cup,
the water cold
ahead the rocks
were calling,
but no one thought
it was the end.
Death on an Ice Bridge: http://www.niagarafrontier.com/icebridgedeath.html
My friend Charles sent me the link above and this reflection:
Hugh, I was fifteen years old when I read the attached 1914 newspaper report of the most chilling deaths in Niagara Falls history. Some might have been saved if the ropes lowered by the rescuers had ended with a non-slip body loop. The easiest, quickest non-slip knot for this loop is the bowline. I was the top knot tier in Boy Scout Troop #32 and knew this knot well, but I was determined to learn more. I practiced grasping a lowered rope, wrapping it around my waist, and securing it with the bowline. I did this over and over, faster and faster. Finally, I decided to grasp a lowered rope with my raised left hand while wrapping the lower end around my waist and tying the rope with my right hand. As you might imagine, this is very difficult. I have never heard of anyone else attempting a one-hand bowline, and there probably would never be a time when it would be needed … But, you never know. … There once was!