Ancient Mariner - Part I, and Arctic Divers

It's March 2nd, and I'd like to say 'its beginning to look like spring,' but in fact there is more snow on the ground now than there has been in the last month. But spring will come soon, along with flowers, green grass, etc. I can report though, that my ankle is in good shape now and I have started attending exercise classes again. Hooray!

I didn't make as much headway into reading 'Ancient Mariner' in the last couple of weeks as I had hoped since I am much more mobile now. At any rate I read Part I of the book in which Samuel Hearne is still a young boy living with his widowed mother, and his only interest is joining the Royal Navy. His mother arranges that Samuel at the age of 12, be assigned as a 'young gentleman' with Captain Samuel Hood, where he would learn the ropes of being a sailor, and eventually a commissioned officer. Samuel Hearne being the Captain's servant receives more pleasant duties, though life of board the ship 'Torbay' is not easy. In the six years he serves Captain Hood, he witnesses much horrific treatment of the sailors including hanging; but he was a good student and the Captain has high praise for him. Now at age 18, Hearne was ready for more adventure. Early in 1766 he is at Lloyd's Coffee House in London, when he hears about the Hudson Bay Company looking to hire an adventurous young mariner. The company was expanding their whaling operations at Prince of  Wales Fort on the Hudson Bay. This suits young Hearne - so Part II should bring him much adventure.

I'll just mention something I had read in the Citizen a week of so ago that peaked my interest, 'Arctic Diving'.
I didn't know that something like that was happening, but apparently both army and navy divers are part of the Arctic Ram, a northern training exercise in the Canadian North. They cut two-meter holes in the lake ice where divers go in. "The shock of the cold water is the biggest adjustment," one diver said. Looking up, they can see the bright lines of a pinwheel shoveled clear of snow beforehand. To get out, they simply follow the bright lines until they get to the hole. Wow, how is that for new adventure. This, of course, is only for specialized diving members of the army and navy.

The next time I blog, I hope that most of the snow will be gone and spring will be in the air.
Cheeers for now.