Random Note on the Storm, Whaling, Etc -- Nothing To Do With The Bakken

Yesterday I rode my bike to Starbucks during the storm. I arrived at Starbucks before the storm really got started (here) and then departed just as it was beginning to pick up. The wind pushed me pretty fast on the way home.

Today, the weather is quite nice. We are far enough inland from Boston harbor that not a lot of problems. It is overcast, but no rain, no wind. Nice temperature for riding a bike.

One tree fell in the Starbucks parking lot, taking out a car from New Jersey. The driver had come up here to visit friends and family, and to escape the storm in New Jersey.

What's that they say about Mother Nature?

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On another note, I am reading Moby Dick on the iPad. I don't recall ever reading Moby Dick, unless I read parts of it in high school. I never thought I would enjoy it. Like so much literature, one has to be ready to enjoy it, to enjoy it. I've often said that "making" students read entire novels in high school does not work. The operative word is "making."

It's been quite a journey to Moby Dick, but I finally arrived. The writing is such I never could have enjoyed it in high school, but after James Joyce and Virginia Woolf it's "easy" to read. But still, I would not be enjoying it without:

• the whaling watches with granddaughters out of Boston harbor
• studying whales with the older granddaughter
• reading Dick Russell's Eye of the Whale (perhaps this is really what got me started), about Charles Melville Scammon, whaler and conservationist; two other "whale" books
• visiting New Bedford, home of whaling in the 19th century; on a whim; serendipity the visit;
• visiting Seamen's Bethel in New Bedford, frequented by Herman Melville, at least on one occasion (Seamen's Bethel was probably the highlight of my day in New Bedford)
• downloading a free copy of Moby Dick on the iPad; can take notes; google phrases, words