Savouring the Sea Around Us

 

And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.”  So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good.  God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”  And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

Genesis 1: 20-23 NRSVue

Spirit, Spirit of gentleness, blow thro' the wilderness calling and free,

Spirit, Spirit of restlessness, stir me from placidness, Wind, Wind on the sea.

1 You moved on the waters, you called to the deep,

then you coaxed up the mountains from the valleys of sleep;

and over the eons you called to each thing:

wake from your slumbers and rise on your wings.  R

                                       Voices United 375

I tentatively retrieved my Globe and Mail newspaper from the driveway this morning (it was icy out there) and noticed an article by Alexander Wooley, a former British naval officer,  to which I could offer an "amen!" The somewhat run-on title is:

Savour the sea: Before we go to space, let’s explore the alien expanse we have right here on Earth: 

Just like outer space, our oceans are vast, extraordinary, defiant enigmas – and yet we take them for granted. We need to understand them beyond our limited land-bound perspectives

As the title describes, Wooley figures we should be more interested in exploring the breadth and depth of our oceans and seas before we become overly enamoured of exploring space. As he puts it: 

...there is an enormous, unexplored marvel right here on our home planet that we take for granted. And so, before space tourism becomes a thing, I’d like more people to take a slow boat across a big sea. 

When we talk about “the world,” we mostly mean nations, humans and land masses. News coverage of severe weather events such as hurricanes or typhoons usually ends once storms head out to sea, and they only next draw attention when they approach another coastline. We’re focused on the problem of rising sea levels, but only insofar as the uninvited ocean threatens to enter our basements, or to drown seaside cities.

I couldn't agree more. We are fascinated by the sea and while we've never embarked on a lengthy ocean voyage we've experienced crossings of many hours on ferries to Newfoundland, the Magdalene Islands, and the English Channel. We've kayaked out toward icebergs and watched porpoised swim beneath our boats. We loved snorkelling amidst the coral off Cuba and Costa Rica and, God willing, we will do some more in the Red Sea in 2023. 

                                   Hanging out with an iceberg, Change Islands, Newfoundland, July, 2017

We could spend endless time on seashores and it never gets old for us, even as we get grey and grizzled -- well, that would be me, not Ruth.  A few years ago we spent time at the summer home of a cousin which is on Chesapeake Bay. We discovered a copy of Rachel Carson's  award-winning The Sea Around Us, from 1951, This book introduced her to the public eye and opened the way for her other works, including Silent Spring eleven years later. 

My "inside out" art work from our home today is first of all the poster of an exhibition from 2001 called Joe Norris: Painted Visions of Nova Scotia. The sea figures prominently in many of the painting by this folk artist. Ruth has created a bit of a shrine to the ocean around the poster in a guest room. 

The second image is from a series of Mother Goose nursery rhyme poster prints by an acquaintance of another time, created for one of those earnest hippie-esque festivals of the 60s and 70s. We had several of them mounted and they're in the bedroom our grandchildren use when they come for sleepovers. 

In the first chapter of the Book of Genesis the Creator brings the oceans into being first and they team with life. We know that we have taxed the oceans with overfishing, and pollution, and saturating them with carbon, yet they continue to be fascinating and worthy of our respect and delight. 

Three wise men of Gotham, went to sea in a bowl, 

if the bowl had been stronger, my song had been longer