hey jud

A cool breeze provided me with the impetus to leave my book and beach chair and go off walking and photographing. Here's what resulted. Family may recognize the beach at Miacomet but people in the pictures are all strangers to me.

It's not a beanstalk and there's no sign of Jack, but this red-leaved Amaranthus plant has grown taller than the railing on my upper deck. Originally it had five siblings in a six-pack from Home Depot. One other has survived, but it's a mere 12-inches. This one's got to be a good 48-inches, roots included. Once I started imagining Jack climbing up the stalk, I started looking for the story to read again. Turns out there are a number of different versions but the one I remember is Jack and the Beanstalk as told by Andrew Lang. I always liked the 'Fe fi fo fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman' part the best.

That story reminded me of another favorite fairy tale, something about a pig and a house burning down. Whenever I'm in a children's bookstore I look for the book I remember, with a yellow cover and big red lettering, but it's always been in vain. Thanks to some Google research I'm sure I've identified it - the Golden Book of Nursery Tales from 1948 and the story called Bobo and the Roast Pig. Unfortunately there's only a reference to it; the book itself is not online. However this link provides the basics of the story. I don't know what it was about that particular book and story, but I can still feel the excitement of opening it to read about Bobo and his yummy discovery. I don't even really like roast pork but I loved Bobo burning his finger and making the best of a big mistake.

Wandering around the new and fabulous Nantucket Whaling Museum last week I was awed by the immense jawbone of a sperm whale, standing up on end more than ten-feet high, and full of huge teeth that were easily eight-inches long. Imagine being in a whaleboat not even twice as big as the whale's jaw alone, rowing out from the main ship to get near enough to harpoon the whale. Then if you're successful with the harpoon, you get dragged along behind in a Nantucket 'sleigh ride' as the whale fights for its life. In counterpoint to this manly daring and bravado, the women apparently had their own early feminist and perhaps fatalist outlook. Noted as a "Nantucket Girl's Song," here's what one young woman, Eliza Brock, was thinking as she wrote in her journal aboard the ship Lexington between 1853 and 1856.

Laugh Because I'm Free

Then I'll haste to wed a sailor, and send him off to sea
For a life of independence, is the pleasant life for me.
But every now and then I shall like to see his face,
For it always seems to me to beam with manly grace,
With his brow so nobly open, and his dark and kindly eyes,
Oh my heart beats fondly towards him whenever he is nigh,
But when he says, "Goodbye my love, I'm off across the sea,"
First I cry for his departure, then laugh because I'm free.

From the wedding photo to now, what's it been like?

The four children, along with wives and husbands, celebrated the Hourihan's sixty-fifth anniversary on August 25th with fancy food, champagne toasts, lots of laughs and a few stories about those many years.

For the years still to come, here's a poem called Touch Me , from Stanley Kunitz, a poet who just celebrated his 100th birthday.