Imaginative Landscapes

When I was in high school, the city of Hamilton and the town of Stoney Creek were still clearly divided by a narrow strip of scrubland, vacant lots, orchards, and one or two farms. They have since grown into one another, though a large forested park, the site of a battle in the War of 1812, still serves as a demarcation point.

My best friend, Bill, used to host RPG sessions at his house in Stoney Creek. His house was an odd sort of adobe split level, built on a low hill that ran into the side of the Hamilton Mountain. His neighbourhood was about 100 feet over the surrounding terrain, accessible only via two very steep hills. We sometimes referred to it as "Minas Tirith" because it had white walls, and a curious little non-functional courtyard entrance that reminded us of a fortress. North Hamilton, with its fire belching steel mills, was clearly Mordor.


This structure, which rises out of the trees between the two cities, was Cirith Ungol. When we saw it, we knew we were getting close to Minas Tirith. No, the geography and directions are not specifically equivalent to Middle Earth. Never mind that. It's actually a monument to the Battle of Stoney Creek, and an extremely cool one at that.

There was also a 1960s Catholic church, as we got closer, with a bell tower that reminded us of Isengard.

The East End, where we lived, was generally considered something akin to Hobbiton. Gage Park was the Old Forest. Dundas (the valley town west of Hamilton) was Rivendell, a fact which I'm sure pleases the majority of my current D&D group, who live there.

Today is Family Day in Ontario. While velvetpage was cooking some meals to put in the freezer, I took the girls out sight seeing.

( A giant globe, Devil's Punchbowl, a cross, and more )