Doug Stanton has written a compelling book In Harm’s Way which I have just finished. It is the story of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis during the final days of World War II. It was the Indianapolis that secretly carried parts of the atom bomb to the island of Tinian. This is the island where the Enola Gay, the B-29 Superfortress bomber that dropped "Little Boy", the first of the atomic bombs used, flew from on its way to…
I read an unusual book: The Meaning of Tingo and other extraordinary words from around the world by Adam Jacot de Boiod.It is a collection of unique words from languages all over the world. For example, “Tingo” in Pascuense language on Easter island means to take all of the things from the house of a friend by borrowing them one by one. Did you know that on the Canary Island La Gomera there is a language called Silbo Gomero that…
Our government was unique at the time it was created. Think about the forms of government in the world. Some of the better known in history include a monarchy where there is a government of one ordained to lead. Oligarchy means a government by the few elite and is justified by the argument that only the few are fit to govern. Aristocracy means government by the best because the rest are not as qualified to run the country. Plutocracy means government by the wealthy…
The National Catholic Reporter (http://ncronline3.org/drupal/ on December 12th had an article by Margot Patterson about the Trappist Monks who are rebuilding a Spanish abbey stone by Stone in Vina, California. The unusual part of the story is that it involves the reconstruction of the Cistercian abbey which had been located near Madrid, Spain at Santa Maria de Ovila and which was purchased by William Randolph Hearst. This abbey was built between 1190 and 1210. The monks carved the stone and built the abbey in Moorish Spain….
We had another night of rough seas getting to San Maarten. The worst of the seas yet. There were winds the whole week we were on the ship. The food and the service on the Seabourn is like none on any ship we have been on. It is beyond excellent. The places they stopped at before arriving at Stan Maarten I would have paid not to visit they were of such little interest. But, we missed the snow, had a good time…
We are in Antigua tied to the pier after another night of rolling and tossing in rough seas. It was formal night and to negotiate the ship you needed to hang on. So it was a group of people in tuxedos and elegant dress staggering around like intoxicated people. Across from us is a very large Carnival line ship the Victory. I assume they have already disgorged hundreds of people into this small port town. We are at St John’s…
Merry Christmas to all from the island of Jost Van Dyke in the Caribbean. A small island with only a handful of residents it features "Foxies" a well known bar frequented by boaters in the area, a police station and a few wooden building offering food and tee shirts. There is electricity and a paved road, but little else. The bay is filled with visiting boats as this is a favorite unspoiled place for boaters to visit. We are at…
The trip from Grand Turk to St. John in the U.S. Virgin islands was unpleasant. Strong winds created large waves and the sea was alive with white caps everywhere. The vessel rolled and pitched as the waves hit her from every angle. Our speed was reduced but it was still necessary to hold on when walking. We were able to eat dinner and make it back to our room holding on to the rails along the wall. Sleep was…
Monday December 22, 2008 we tied to the dock at Grand Turk, Caribbean islands. We sailed from Fort Lauderdale, Florida on the Seabourn Pride departing Saturday about 5:00 pm on a Christmas in the Caribbean to arrive at this island. The ship was built in 1988 in Germany and is 439 feet long with a 63-foot beam. Her top speed is 18 knots driven by 10,000 horsepower diesel engines. She has room for only 212 passengers and the crew numbers…
I am feeling smug about the fact that we are in Palm Beach Florida reading about the cold and snow storm back home. From our balcony I see people in the ocean swimming and others around the pool. On my computer I’ve watched the video of traffic problems, closures and bad weather. We were supposed to fly out on Friday, but as the reports got worse about what was expected we instead took the red eye at 11:30 at night…
