D9

James Foster
City Views

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Reading the public debate over whether Moncton facilities should ban bottled water should definitely bring a smile to all our faces.

Obviously, we Monctonians have finally beaten poverty, schooled all the illiterate, housed the homeless, paved the roads, fixed health care, silenced airport noise, brought down the price of gasoline and heating oil, stopped crime and solved the French second-language dilemma.

That must be why we now have time to fritter on stuff like considering drawing up policies to ban bottled water from city buildings. The soft-drink pedlars must be laughing their heads off.

One can envision the enviro-Nazis coming down on some little ol' lady sunning herself at Centennial Beach, plastic bottle in hand. "But it's filled with gin and tonic, I swear to you!" she'll protest. "Oh, well, OK then," they'll reply.

That's a bit of an exaggeration. Let's hope.

Maybe if those who have some innate urge to save us all from ourselves paid more attention to their own impact on the environment than that of the rest of us, the planet would be in far better shape.

Anyone who thinks banning bottled water, but not other drinks that come in essentially the same bottles, will make a difference in this world, is merely rationalizing their excuse to feel smug.

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Speaking of Centennial Beach, here we are enjoying a beautiful late-summer morning -- ideal for a dip in a pool -- but the city has already closed the beach and the Kiwanis and Knights of Pythias pools.

Too bad.

One can guess that these facilities have to close early because they are staffed by students who have to start getting ready for classes. (Don't feel bad, guys. Graduation will end the torture of having to return to school every fall, because having summers off will be but a memory.)

Of course, there are other pools in Metro Moncton. But for a truly refreshing experience, there's nothing like jumping into Shediac Bay off the Pointe-du-Chêne wharf.

This place is ideal for wiling away a sweaty summer afternoon and/or evening on an actual working wharf, yet its purpose is also recreational. Over here there are people casting for mackerel. Over there the lobster fishermen are fetching boxes of bait. There are restaurants, ice cream shops, boat tours, souvenirs and a fish shop.

And there's the water. Saunter over to the west end of the wharf, brace yourself and join the dozens of folks leaping into the chillingly refreshing bay on sweltering days and evenings.

Bring the kids (and their life jackets) and a toonie for the toll gate. That toonie is part of the reason why the wharf keeps getting better every year as its board of directors invests in improvements -- like new ladders for us swimmers. If you haven't been there in a while, you might be surprised.

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Albert County is one of the most fun places to get lost in, with ancient woods roads and trails that go for hours and who knows where you'll emerge?

Imagine our surprise last week when we accidentally came out of the forest smack dab into the middle of the TransAlta wind farm project in the Kent Hills area.

I'm not sure Metro Moncton residents have yet grasped the sheer scope of this project, with 32 turbines on structures that are 125 metres tall (409.5 feet) or about the same size as downtown's Aliant Tower.

The turbine blades that were awaiting installation during our unexpected visit measured 90 metres or 295 feet and were so big a man could walk inside them if he wished to.

The work was going on at a torrid pace, so we got out of there as we reckoned we really weren't supposed to be there.

Thanks to TransAlta for the sneak peek and a tip o' the helmet to the very understanding security person.

n City Views appears daily, written by various members of our staff. James Foster is editor-at-large. His column appears every Wednesday.