Continued Confessions

that are good for my soul

Don’t get all worried that I am going to bare my soul today with dark secrets. Quite, frankly, I’m not sure I have any, and my nature is such that I wouldn’t dwell on them anyway. But I do keep reading about things that are supposed to nourish your soul so perhaps writing this Thursday Substack has become one of them. I’m feeling very well fed these days.

And now, on to the subject of today’s post for real. I was very interested to read a headline that said that Shackleton’s last ship had been discovered, and I ran to my book collection and found the one that I was looking for quite easily (believe me, that’s a miracle in and of itself). Back at the beginning of the pandemic shutdown, I thoroughly enjoyed The Ship Beneath The Ice by Mensun Bound which detailed the discovery recently of the ship “Endurance” and rescue of the crew for which Sir Ernest Shackleton is famous. [I have a feeling I may have posted about this in an earlier Substack but don’t want to waste time looking right now.] Anyway, I was intrigued today by what was meant by his last ship, and I quickly searched and found that the ship is the “Quest” on which Shackleton died onboard from a heart attack in 1922 when he was only 47. Fittingly, the ship was near the island of South Georgia at the time. The ship continued to ply the seas, though, and finally sank off the coast of Labrador when it struck ice in 1962. The story of the discovery of that wreck is available online for anyone to read if they like.

My other post for today also takes me back in time. When I needed long sleeves to go out in my yard after the poison ivy (and, by the way, poison sumac according to my hedge man), I went to my closet and found my lovely workshirt, made out of blue denim with a beautiful patch of the ranch in Santa Fe and the name Fred embroidered above the pocket. In case that’s not ringing bells, we used to listen to Imus in the Morning as often as possible, and I know I sent for this shirt many years ago. After checking the facts, I find both Fred and his more famous brother Don are both dead now. I am glad I still have the shirt and found it very comforting this week.

So finally, I’ll come back to the unpleasant present with just one uplifting remark: I nominate Rep. David Joyce of Ohio as my hero for today. He was the only Republican Congressman with the sense to vote against the ridiculous motion to hold our Attorney General in contempt of Congress. I spent some of my earlier career preparing typewritten transcripts from various legal matters, which required me to sit listening to the audio and transcribing it verbatim. One I remember in particular involved a disciplinary hearing for a local police officer. I do not recall anyone questioning whether or not my transcript was accurate. I certainly did my best to make sure that it reflected what was said. Of course, technology has come a very long way since then but none of it helps to foster a sane and civil society if people themselves are innately distrustful. What’s a Mother or a Granny to do?????