Beside the historic Dismal Swamp Canal, the oldest operating man-made waterway in the United States, Tammy Barnes sees in the distance what to me looks like two white toothpicks between an alley of trees. But not to Tammy. “We got a boat! And we got to get to work!” she shouts. “This is when the fun starts!” We slip on life jackets, and Tammy begins a process she knows by heart. At a windowed shed nearby, her hands seem to dance as she works various toggle switches to open the lock chamber’s gate.