Pirates are never happier than when playing tricks on each other. Pirate moms are no exception.
April Fool’s Day may be over, but pirates never get tired of trying to pull a fast one on each other. I learned about these first hand during a brief voyage on a pirate ship which I’ll leave unnamed since pirates aren’t completely stupid and even half-sober ones can figure out who spilled the beans. Nevertheless, you might be amused by these shenanigans. It only took a week for me to discover the safest place to hide my money while on board. Can you guess? Under a bar of soap.
So where does a greasy, grimy pirate afraid of a little soap and water hide his money on a ship? One pirate I know chose an empty cannon. He stuffed it way down in the belly to hide it really good. Unfortunately, he was- hmm, how shall I put this delicately for my younger readers- he was visiting the head at the fore of the ship, getting rid of excess body waste. Suddenly, a cannon boomed so loudly, he nearly fell off the seat and into the sea. He pulled himself back up just in time to see what was left of his shredded loot fall into the sea. He was not amused.
If you think pirates are cruel to each other, wait till you get a load of this. The history books don’t tell you this, but some moms of pirates sent their sons care packages when their careers weren’t going so well. I don’t think they meant any disrespect, but when one buccaneer opened his package, he found a razor and shaving cream in it. Another pirate mom included mouthwash which the pirate took to be rum. He was retching for hours before his stomach settled down.
Another pirate mom sent her boy notepaper and stamps, so she could hear from him. Unfortunately, he intercepted his report card so she never knew he spent most of his time in the boy’s bathroom when they taught reading and writing. Know what he was doing? Going through an old Sears catalog looking at pictures of sabers and pirate flags and saucy wenches decked out in their tricorns.
Then there was the mom who sent her son want-ads from a local paper. She even circled the ones she thought her boy would be a good match for. One included managing a marina, but in all honesty, she should have seen it wasn’t a good fit. No one wants to wake up on Saturday morning and find his yacht missing along with all the other vessels in port.
One mom skipped the want-ads altogether and told her son to collect disability. He was the perfect candidate since he wore an eyepatch, a peg leg, and a hook. When his claim was denied, she got him a lawyer who made a federal case out of it. Authorities listened to his counselor argue passionately about how he sustained injuries on the job. They were so impressed with all the evidence that they took it and tried him for grand larceny, hijacking on the high seas, and just plain smelling bad. He never did get disability, but he does have job security cleaning out the potties where he’s doing time. Mom even sends him a bottle of Lysol every month.
Being a pirate is a tough job, especially if you’re a stupid one, so the next time you see one, take it easy on him, and by all means don’t give him a copy of the want-ads. You’ll not only be wasting your time, but annoying him to no end.
This pirate looks depressed. Want to know why? He couldn’t get the clams open he was going to have for supper. Don’t be like this depressed pirate. Read this blog and find out how to safely open a clam and other secrets only they know.
Nobody knows when clams were first eaten by humans. Common sense tells me it was native Indians somewhere around the world who smashed their way inside the home of one that was resting comfortably maybe watching TV or playing solitaire. What that curious person found was a salty world of pink and white pleasure.
The reason I mention this is that opening up the shell of a large clam can be a real challenge to the inexperienced. Even if you get the hang of it, you have to be careful or you’ll be sitting in an ER room in South Carolina or New Zealand because the knife slipped. So here’s what you do. Hold the clam firmly in one hand and an oyster knife in the other. Find the spot where the muscle opens and closes the shell. It’s a small, black protuberance close to the hinge. With your sturdy oyster knife gently but firmly pry your way between the two shells. Some of these guys have been lifting weights at Gold’s Gym or Planet Fitness so you might have to apply a little extra pressure because they’re going to resent you breaking into their house.
I can’t stress this enough, but don’t use a knife with a sharp blade like a steak knife. One slip and you could sever your thumb from your hand. Using a butcher knife is even stupider. The shank of an oyster knife is sturdy so it wont break and go flying across the room and land in Uncle Ned’s beer.
I have to admit I have a real problem with opening clams. It’s not that I can’t get them open. It’s that once they are open, I can’t resist sucking those salty, plump things into my mouth along with their juice. That’s the real nectar of the gods!
There are all kinds of recipes for clams so I’m not going to bore you with mine. I’m completely happy putting a dozen chowder clams on a plate and slathering them with a schmeer of cocktail sauce. The spicier the better unless my daughter, Jennifer, makes it. She believes mixing any more than half a teaspoon of catsup into a cup of horseradish is anathema.
There are two kinds of clam chowder. New England chowder is white and has a milk or cream base. Manhattan clam chowder uses a tomato base. My wife is strictly a New England clam chowder person. I don’t understand why. Since she’s a dyed-in-the-wool New Yorker, you’d think her loyalties would kick in.
As for me, I enjoy both kinds as long as they’re packed with clams. And if the chowder isn’t, and I don’t have time to make it from scratch, I add a couple cans of clams to it. If it’s Manhattan clam chowder, I’ll even add some of the tomatoes I put up from last season’s harvest. Wow! Even the clams get excited when that happens. Why they’re as happy as, well, as happy as clams.
Some people say Manhattan clam chowder didn’t originate in Manhattan at all but in Rhode Island with Portuguese families. As far back as 1831, mom and grandma made their way to Fulton’s Fish Market at the end of Fulton Street in lower Manhattan, New York City to make their purchases.
I used to live in New Jersey in a seaside town, and I knew this fish market on the corner of Main Street. The owner was a big guy, built like a grisly bear, but with a smile that could melt the snows of the harshest winter. After a hot summer’s afternoon on the beach, I’d stop in and ask for a dozen chowder clams. Those were huge clams, bigger than the palm of your hand.
He’d go inside his walk-in refrigerator in the back and haul out a huge 50-pound sack of clams and dip his hands in and pull out several clams and dump them on a bed of ice. Then he would take one in each hand and knock them sharply against each other to make sure they were alive. If he heard a hollow sound, he discarded it. The only thing that prevented me from eating one before getting home was the mud and sand still covering them.
I moved to South Carolina since, and it’s hard to get chowder clams like that here. Actually, it’s impossible. I’m not sure if it’s because the folks in South Carolina don’t like chowder clams so fish market owners don’t carry them. There is one other possibility and to think about it makes me feel as guilty as sin. It may be that I ate so many of them in New Jersey that they became extinct.
I’d like to talk more about this with you, but it’s getting close to dinner time, and I hear some clams calling my name. Enjoy National Clam Chowder Day and remember you don’t have to be from New England or Manhattan to enjoy a delicious bowl of either one. In fact, you don’t have to wait for February 25. Bon Appetit. That’s Bob Appetit’s half brother. If you see either one of them, tell them I was looking for them.
To pass the time on the darkest and loneliest of nights, mariners have been swapping tales of the unknown since the first boat went to sea. Those rooted in science and practicality reject all of them. “There’s a reason for that,” they quickly proffer, but I suggest otherwise.
You most likely have heard of the Flying Dutchman, a ship that sailed around the tip of Cape Hope and made such great time that sailors and landlubbers alike swore the captain had sold his soul to the devil. To this day, it can never dock in port. What it does, however, is carry the lost souls of the damned for eternity.
Off the coast of Chile, the Caleuche is involved in a more positive event. According to one account, mermaid-like figures take the souls of drowned sailors to the ship. Once on board, it’s not a hell that awaits them but the chance to continue to live their lives contentedly. I cover this and numerous other incidents in a book about pirates, mariners, and the eternal sea that I’m close to finishing. In my extensive research, I’ve come to realize there’s just too many incidents like these to just summarily write them off.
But the sea isn’t the only place where the unexplained occurs. I’m reminded of stories my mother told me for years. One incident occurred when she was about five in a row home in the 1920s Philadelphia. It was Easter and her brothers and sisters were all huddled in bed expecting the Easter bunny to come. Excited, she had a hard time sleeping. Then peering out from the blanket drawn to her chin, she saw him. A white form glided through the wall and stood at the foot of the bed bending over as if studying her. The five-year-old suddenly realized this was no Easter bunny at all as she squinted, shut her eyes then reopened them only to see the figure continue to stand there for several minutes before gliding backwards and disappearing through the wall.
A child’s imagination run amok? It’s not that easy to explain away when you consider several other incidents just as bizarre that occurred in the house. Not much later, my mother was home with her six-year-old brother John while the rest of her brothers and sisters were in school. Her mother was in the kitchen doing what stay-at-home moms have been doing for centuries. Kneading dough for several loaves of bread. With fingers deep in the dough and flour covering her arms, she didn’t hear her two children creep down the steps.
The little girl and her not much bigger brother heard the piano in the living room clunking as they came down the stairs. Mommy is dusting the piano, the little boy and girl thought, but as they descended the stairs and the piano came into view, they realized it wasn’t mommy at all. Terrified, they flew past the piano and into the kitchen where mommy was elbow deep in flour and dough. Her mother was as shocked as they were as they told her about the piano.
Several other incidents occurred in the house that finally provoked my grandfather to find a new home in the suburbs. Many of the older homes in Philadelphia were lit by gaslight in those days, and the little five-year-old always insisted my grandfather leave it burning at night. The first night in her new home, my grandfather was surprised as he tucked his little girl into bed. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she whispered, “You can turn out the light, daddy. I feel safe here, and I don’t need it anymore.”
What about you? What was the strangest thing that ever happened to you? It’s comforting to have a reasonable explanation when the bizarre happens, but mariners and landlubbers alike know we sometimes have to live with the uncertainty of the bizarre and the supernatural.
While doing research for a writing project, I came across a disturbing incident that occurred over a century and a half ago which costs several teenagers their lives. A Hanging Offense: The Strange Affair of the Warship Somers recounts a tragic event that unfolded on an American warship when several teenagers threatened mutiny while on training exercises. The story has a lot of twists and turns, and we’ll never really know what was in the minds and hearts of those who participated.
Several teenagers confided to their shipmates that they were going to commit mutiny, murder the officers then sail away to a country that would offer them asylum. Was it a few teens feeling their oats, boosted by an unhealthy dose of bravado? Was it just talk by malcontents full of hot air? That was the key question facing the officers when they uncovered the plot.
I paged randomly through this book by Buckner Melton, Jr., and I have to tell you, as tragic as the story is, if you love stories set against the backdrop of the sea, this is a book you’ll want to read. I’m proud to have it in my library right between Robert Kurson’s Pirate Hunter and Scourge of the Seas by Angus Konstam. I think they’re going to get along just fine together, swapping tales of mystery, cunning and betrayal.
It’s a tragic story, but one rooted in history, and if you gravitate towards stories of the sea, you should get yourself a copy because you’re not getting mine.
If you ever get to Key West, you’re pretty lucky. If you’re a lighthouse aficionado and you wake up in Key West, you’ll probably think you died and went to heaven.
I have to admit that for most people, seeing the Key West Lighthouse is not at the top of their list when visiting Key West. But turn on to Whitehead Street, one block off Duval Street, and go far enough, and there it stands. It’s almost across the street from Hemingway’s house, about a minute’s walk if you’re sober. If you’re doing the Duval Crawl like some of the permanent residents of Key West and visitors, it could take up to an hour or more.
When Hemingway told a friend that he had bought a house in Key West across the street from a lighthouse, his friend replied: “Now you can crawl home from Sloppy Joe’s Bar just by following the beam from the lighthouse.”
The lighthouse that stands in Key West today was not the original lighthouse. The original one was 65 feet high and was completed in 1825. Its purpose was to guide mariners through the dangerous reefs to Key West harbor.
The original keeper was Michael Mabrity, assisted by his wife, Barbara. When he died seven years after it opened, she continued caring for it. Unfortunately, the powerful Havana Hurricane of 1846 wiped it out, killing 14 people who were hiding from the storm. Barbara survived. The current lighthouse stands proudly at 73 feet and is made of brick. It became operational in 1848.
It’s hard to look at the Key West Lighthouse or any other one for that matter and not feel a longing for something deep in the soul that is nameless and eternal. Sometimes I think each of us is called to be a lighthouse and harbor for others. Just as we need shelter from Life’s storms, sooner or later, we all need the light of a friendly soul to guide us on our way.
Just as important, we need to remember that we carry within ourselves the light others need, and it’s as comforting and certain as the light from a lighthouse standing firmly on a dark shore, pointing the way. Did you ever visit Key West Lighthouse or any other one for that matter? Did you climb those ancient steps till you finally reached the top and could gaze at the watery horizon alive with a million blinding beams of light? Breathtaking, wasn’t it? Whose breath will you take away tomorrow when you share your light?
January 4 is National Trivia Day, and everybody I know loves a challenge which is why Jeopardy as well as Trivia Pursuit has been so popular all these years. I’ve got a little game for you called Stump the Pirate, and it tests your knowledge of four categories. Pirates, Explorers, Shipwrecks, and Mother Ocean. There are five questions for each of the four topics. If you score perfectly, I promise to share my next haul of doubloons with you. Answers appear at the end of the quiz. Good Luck! Aarrrgh!
Pirates
One. When there wasn’t a physician on board a ship, who served as surgeon? a. the captain b. the quartermaster c. the cook d. the gunner
Two. What was once considered the most evil pirate haunt in the world? a. Madrid, Spain b. Port Royal, Jamaica c. Santiago, Cuba d. Murrells Inlet, SC
Three. Who was Spain’s most famous buccaneer? a. Sir Francis Drake b. Ferdinand Magellan c. Ponce de Leon d. Jose Cruz
Four. Which of these was the only pirate who retired successfully? a. Blackbeard b. Black Bart c. Capt. William Kidd d. Henry Every
Five. Which place became a pirate stronghold known as the Pirate Republic? a. Nassau, Bahamas b. Jamaica c. Cartagena d. Santo Domingo
Explorers
Six. Who was the first to use the name America on a map? a. Gerald Mercator b. Amerigo Vespucci c. Christopher Columbus d. Abraham Ortelius
Seven. Which explorer was lost at sea after his crew mutinied?a. John Davis b. Ferdinand Magellan c. Henry Hudson d. Joseph Bannister
Eight. Which one of these was a ghost ship guided by the devil?a. Celeste b. Davey Jones c. Flying Dutchman d. El Diablo
Nine. Who was the first navigator to sail completely around the world three times? a. Francis Drake b. Ferdinand Magellan c. William Dampier d. John Davis
Ten. Who discovered the Hawaiian Islands? a. James Cook b. Henry Hudson c. John Franklin d. Henry Morgan
Shipwrecks
Eleven. On which ship was the policy of ladies first into the lifeboats adopted? a. Titanic b. Birkenhead c. Lusitania d. Rhone
Twelve. What did the collision of the Imo and the Mount Blanc in 1917 result in? a. Total destruction of Halifax, Nova Scotia b. a minor explosion c. an oil spill d. the cause of World War I
Thirteen. What is a ghost ship? a. A ship rumored to be haunted b. a ship denied access to a port c. a ship wrecked on a foreign shore d. a ship afloat but with no one on board
Fourteen. What ship sunk off Nantucket Island in 1956? a. HMS Pinafore b. Andrea Doria c. Franklin d. USS Enterprise
Fifteen. The ferry Estonia sank in 1994, killing over 800 people because: a. The captain fell asleep b. a bomb on board went off c. an explosion in the boiler room ripped through the hull d. someone forgot to close the bow doors
Mother Ocean
Sixteen. What causes tsunamis? a. Typhoons in the Pacific b. earthquakes c. volcanoes d. rogue waves
Seventeen. What’s the only male sea creature that gives birth to its young? a. Lemon sharks b. dolphins c. sea horses d. box jellyfish
Eighteen. Sawfish sharks aren’t really sharks at all but: a. dolphins b. pirates looking for a meal c. stingrays d. an octopus
Nineteen. Which turtle has no shell? a. Olive Kemp Ridley b. loggerhead c. hawksbill d. leatherback
Twenty. What’s the biggest creature in the sea? a. Mako shark b. blue whale c. humpback whales d. killer whales
Time’s up, Kiddies. If you got five or less correct, you need to spend more time chasing pirates. If you got six to ten, you’re better than a landlubber, but I recommend an extra week’s vacation at the beach this year. If you scored, eleven to fifteen, you’re a pretty good mariner. Keep hoisting those sails. If you scored sixteen or above, I know a couple of sea captains that would love having you on board chasing adventure on the High Seas.
c. the cook. 2. b. Port Royal, Jamaica 3. a. Sir Francis Drake 4. d. Henry Every 5. a. Nassau, Bahamas 6. a. Gerald Mercator 7. c. Henry Hudson 8. c. Flying Dutchman 9. c. William Dampier 10. a. James Cook 11. b. Birkenhead 12. a. Total destruction of Halifax, Nova Scotia 13. d. a ship afloat but with no one on board 14. b. Andrea Doria 15. d. someone forgot to close the bow doors 16. b. earthquakes 17. c. sea horses 18. c. stingrays 19. d. leatherback 20. b. blue whale
I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like to be done with the old and worn-out and welcome a New Year with its promise of a new chance at Life. Maybe it’s the reason some pirates liked to rename their ships. Perhaps they felt it would give them a new lease on life. At the very least, it confounded the authorities if only for a little while.
The very mariners who deliver the goods you snap up in your local stores represent a wide variety of countries with some very interesting New Year traditions. I suggest you check them out. They may very well bring you the luck you’re looking for if not radically alter your life.
This New Year’s Eve besides watching the ball drop in New York’s Times Square, you might want to consider adopting one or two of the following customs. Let’s start with Italy. There and in some Hispanic countries, it’s a good idea to put more than a little thought into what color underwear to put on. If you want to attract money, wear yellow. Guys, stains don’t count. Ladies, if you’re looking for love wear red panties. In some countries, red underwear is given as a gift though I wouldn’t recommend you try it with your next-door neighbor.
In some parts of Columbia, South America, people carry travel bags or other small pieces of luggage with them so that travel will be an important part of their life in the New Year.
Brazilians have a unique custom that is easily adapted to anywhere in the world. For luck, they swim in the ocean, diving into the waves seven times in honor of Yemenja, goddess of the ocean. Each time you jump in the waves, make a wish. How much fun is that unless you live in Anchorage, Alaska or the South Pole?
In some parts of Latin America and Europe, you are sure to have luck if you eat 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight. Each grape you pop into your mouth represents a month of the New Year. And don’t forget to make a wish with each grape you eat.
Many Filipinos keep round things near them for good luck as they begin the New Year. Some wear polka dot clothing, or eat 12 round fruits, one for each of the 12 months of the year. At the very least, keep change in your pocket and to encourage wealth to come to you, jingle it frequently throughout the day.
You don’t have to wait for St. Patrick’s Day for this last one, nor do you have to be Irish. Put a little mistletoe under your pillow and your future loved one will appear in a dream.
However you celebrate the New Year, I wish you not only health, good luck, and wealth, but the fulfillment of your most precious dreams. Happy New Year.
If you’re home in your easy chair, sharing Christmas with your family, I hope your holidays are filled with all the love and peace the season brings. If you’re one of the thousands of mariners whose only family on Christmas Day is your fellow shipmates, thank you for the sacrifices you make no matter what sea you sail upon. And I hope you realize how much you’re loved and missed by your family. I pray your voyage will be short and you’ll soon be home in their nurturing arms enjoying the comfort and warmth of their love.
At this very moment, thousands of mariners on nearly 100,000 merchant ships are out on the sea, carrying some kind of cargo that you’ll sorely miss in your local store in a few months if they don’t do their job. These mariners come from over 150 different countries and will be unable to be with their families this Christmas.
This is a good time to say a prayer for them and reflect on what Christmas traditions they’re foregoing because their job calls them thousands of miles from home for months at a time. As a tribute to them, I’d like to introduce you to some of the lesser-known Christmas traditions around the world. They all belong to those folks out on the sea.
Let’s begin our voyage with Norway, shall we? There, Santa doesn’t visit homes on Christmas Eve. But a very hungry gnome called Niese does. Just as believers in Santa leave milk and cookies, the children of Norway leave him risengrod, or rice pudding. If he’s happy with his meal, he’ll bring good luck to the house in the New Year. If he’s disappointed, he’ll be playing tricks on the family for a long time.
Folks in Norway don’t just have Niese to worry about. On Christmas Eve, many families hide their brooms because that’s the night witches and spirits roam the earth. Leaving a broom unattended is just asking for trouble.
As strange as it may seem, children in Iceland might have good reason to wish for underwear or socks along with their other gifts. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, they’re encouraged to do their chores. Those who do will get new clothes under the tree. Those who don’t better watch out for the Yule Cat known as Jolakotturinn. He’s as big as a house and walks from house to house on Christmas Eve looking in the window. If new clothes are under the tree, he moves on. If there are no clothes under the tree, the naughty child had better not sleep that night because the Yule Cat will get him.
Christmas is obviously a Christian celebration, but a number of traditions of the season date back to pagan times. In Iceland, Gryla, the Christmas witch. Is one of them. She lives in a cave with 13 trolls called Yule Lads. Before Christmas, she searches out bad children to kidnap them.
Frau Perchta is a German and Austrian version of the Christmas witch. If you’ve been good, you get money in your shoe. If you’ve been bad, parents warn their children, she’ll cut your stomach out and fill it with rocks.
If you’re a bibliophile or book lover, you’re going to love this next tradition of Iceland. It dates back to World War II when everything but paper was in short supply. The folks there practice a custom called Jolabokaflod. Literally translated, it means Books of Christmas Flood. On Christmas Eve, family members exchange books and then spend the rest of the evening reading to each other. No cell phones. No texting. No computers. No Facebook. Just families reading to each other. How bizarre can you get?
Many folks are aware that an important holiday of the Christmas season in Germany is the feast of St. Nicholas on December 6. On the eve before, he fills boys’ and girls’ shoes with candy and small gifts. What many don’t know is that in parts of Germany and Central Europe, a terrifying spectre called Krampus, accompanies St. Nicholas, giving the night of December 5, the name Krampusnacht. A creature that is half goat and half demon, the Krampus visits bad children either to punish them or kidnap them much like the bogeyman.
A more benign German tradition that has blossomed in recent years is the hanging of a pickle in the Christmas tree. On Christmas morning, whoever finds the pickle hidden among the tree branches and ornaments receives a special present.
Before leaving Germany, let me share a legend told in some parts of Germany and the Ukraine about a family too poor to decorate their tree after putting it up. Saddened, they went to bed with the tree bare. When they awoke in the morning, something magical had happened. As the light of dawn shone through the window, the tree sparkled with webs of silver and gold woven by spiders that had nested in the tree. Today, when German and Ukraines decorate their Christmas tree, they add an ornament or two of spider figures for good luck.
Close by are several Slovakian countries whose people who are just warm and thoughtful people. Quite a few of the families there observe some beautiful Christmas traditions. When the table is set, an extra place is set for a family member who is deceased. Coins are placed under each plate to guarantee everyone will have a prosperous year ahead. Finally, an apple is cut into pieces, a slice for everyone at the table. This gesture symbolizes the hope that they will all meet together next year.
Next, I’d like to take you a little farther west to southern Wales where revelers dressed as horses are apt to appear outside a home. The main horse’s name is Gray Mare, and like wassailers in other cultures, the revelers roam from house-to-house singing songs or reciting verses. The homeowner is expected to outdo the Gray Mare’s ditties. In good time, the revelers are then invited in for something to eat and drink. The tradition is called Mari Lwyd.
As we travel farther south, there’s a region of Spain called Catalan, home of the Catalan Poop. Here the Catalan log is the focus of Christmas Eve. For the previous three weeks, a hollowed-out log with a face is cared lovingly by the children in the house. Every day they feed it, and every night they tuck it into bed by placing a cover over it.
Then on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, the children beat the log with sticks while singing a song, urging it to poop. If the log feels that it was cared for, it defecates candy, nuts, and other delicious treats along with small gifts.
On the other side of the Pacific, the folks in the Philippines have their own take on Christmas. They’re fond of displaying parols or star-shaped lanterns. It doesn’t make any difference what they’re composed of or how big they are. For the Filipino, it symbolizes hope. Their Christmas capital is San Fernando in the province of Pampanga, 40 miles north of Manila. The city is famous for its elaborate Christmas lanterns and the Giant Lantern Festival. Like Christmas celebrations in the Western World, it originated as a religious holiday. A novena of prayers beginning on December 16 culminated on Christmas Eve when everyone brought their lanterns to church.
It’s no surprise that Christians in China are in the minority, maybe around two percent of the population. They call their Christmas Sheng Dan Jieh. Translated that means Season of the Holy birth. Dun Che Lao Ran or Old Man Christmas fills children’s stockings. Like the Philippines, paper lanterns are an important part of Christmas celebrations.
Before heading back into port, I’d like to share a cherished tradition from my own childhood. Writing a letter to Santa and mailing it in a most unusual way. One cold, dark night a few weeks before Christmas, my brother, sisters and I would write our letters to Santa Claus. Since a six-year-old knows little about spelling, my older siblings guided me. My letter wouldn’t earn any points from Sister John Miriam, but it was written with all the sincerity and heartfelt love a six-year-old’s heart could hold.
When we were ready to mail our carefully printed letters, they were gently folded and bundled by my mother as my father watched smiling from his chair by the fireplace. Crouching down, my mother pulled the handle that opened the flue, and a cold waft of air from a bitter December night hit my cheek. Then she pointed, and one by one, we slipped our hopes and dreams into the darkness of the chimney. When the last one was in, my mother pulled the flue handle, and it closed with a thud.
A flood of worry filled me as I pointed out how windy it was outside. “What if our letters don’t make it to the North Pole? What if they’re lying in the street in the morning, and Santa never sees them?” My mother assured us they would arrive safely during the night. One glance at my father’s face and his gentle nod, and I knew I had nothing to worry about.
I don’t know what Christmas traditions you cherish, and I don’t know what you want for Christmas. Maybe it’s something you can’t wrap and put under the tree. Like a car or an exotic vacation to the South Pacific. Or maybe it’s good health for yourself or a loved one. Whatever it is, I wish you all the peace and happiness your heart can hold.
The darkness inside the caves of the Baths on Virgin Gorda is insufferable for some. This break of light halfway through is a reminder that no matter how dark our situation, hope offers us a light that despair never can.
We’re losing light fast these days, and we’re still eight days away from the shortest day of the year. A lot of people are struggling to find something to celebrate as the days grow shorter and darker. It can be depressing for many affected by SAD, or Seasonal Affective Disorder. SAD is real and can be devastating for those particularly susceptible. Signs of SAD include sadness, depression, and fatigue. Half a million people in the United States have it. That’s not to mention millions of other people around the globe including folks in Australia, Germany, and England.
Of course, there’s Christmas with all its merry-making, but the folks on the Caribbean Island of St. Lucia and the Swedes have come up with a stopgap measure. St. Lucia or St. Lucy’s Day. It may surprise you to know that her name means light in Latin. With the days growing shorter, it’s a great time to celebrate St. Lucy’s Day.
As the Uncommon Mariner, I love learning about how other cultures celebrate different holidays of the year, and St. Lucia is no exception. Oddly enough, the Scandinavian countries of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark have adopted it as their own as well. It’s likely it spread into their culture from Italy where St. Lucy lived.
Let’s take a closer look, shall we? Saint Lucia Day, also known as St. Lucy’s Day, always falls on December 13. Obviously, the island nation of St. Lucia, pronounced, Saint Loo Sha, was named after the saint. Lucy was a real person who lived around 380 AD and died about 403. Exact dates are hard to come by when you go back that far in history where people lived without Facebook. Just as hard is tracking down the legends that spring up around people.
According to one account, Lucy was betrothed to marry a powerful man but had reservations when her mother was going blind. During a dream one night, a saint appeared to her and told her to have faith in God, and instead of marrying, to give her dowry to the poor.
Once the man she was to marry found out, he was outraged. When she continued to refuse his advances, he decided to have her thrown in a brothel. The day he arrived to drag her away, something strange happened. Her body could not be budged despite how many men attempted to force her. He finally built a bonfire and attempted to burn her at the stake, but each time the fire failed to consume her. Finally, he had one of his men lance her in the head. Still, she would not die till she had time to make her peace with God.
Lucy lived during the Emperor Diocletian’s persecution of the Christians. You’re probably aware many were thrown to the lions. To survive, many hid in the extensive catacombs under the city of Rome. Lucy is said to have brought them food. Each day she would slip into the dark dungeons with her arms loaded with victuals. Because the catacombs were pitch black, she relied on the light of a candle. In order to carry supplies in both arms, she wore a special wreath on her head which held four candles.
Wherever her feast is celebrated today, part of the celebration includes a procession of young girls wearing white robes symbolizing purity. The girl chosen to lead the procession as St. Lucy wears a special wreath on her head with four candles.
Before the switch was made from the old Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, St. Lucy’s feast landed on the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. How appropriate since dispelling darkness with light is an essential part of St. Lucy’s Day.
If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, you’re experiencing some of the shortest and darkest days of the year as you read this. If you live in the Southern Hemisphere, don’t worry! Your turn is coming. Wouldn’t it be great if everyone tried to be the light in someone’s dark world over the next few weeks? Think back to when you were going through a rough patch and someone was there to throw a little light on your path when you were stumbling. Maybe it was a little whisper of hope, or an ear that listened, or a helping hand.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States once said, “We are not here to curse the darkness but to light the candle that can guide us through that darkness to a safe and sane future.” You could be a light in someone’s world today, and you won’t diminish the light from your own candle by doing it.
I wish all of you reading this and the folks of St. Lucia, a happy St. Lucy’s Day. And if your path is ever blotted out by darkness, I hope you find someone to help light your way. Meanwhile, I’m going to lie down and take a little nap. Maybe a beautiful mermaid will come and wake me before spring.
May this Christmas bring you all the joy and peace your heart can hold. And may all your Sail-Away Dreams come true this coming year. For those mariners on cargo and cruise ships, tankers and tugs, far from family and friends, remember how much you’re ;loved and thought of.
Welcome to the World of Mariners, Pirates, and the Eternal Sea 