On the Water

Our music director Denise Haskins and I led the July 27 summer service based on our own experiences "On the Water." Denise is an experienced sailor who often takes parishioners out on her boat C Major and also enjoys leading fresh-water outings in kayaks. Although I have always enjoyed canoes and kayaks, I have only recently begun spending a lot of time on the water, as an active member of Whaling City Rowing. The club's replica whaleboats are moored in the same harbor as C Major, so we are often in the same harbor.

For the service, we invited everyone to share the places where they most enjoy being on or near water, and we explored what water experiences mean to us. The visual focus for this service included a number of books about water -- both fresh and salt -- from James' office. All of the titles are in the "On the Water" section of our online store.

Following the service, the Hayes-Bohanan family took visiting Wisconsin relatives to Salem for some family history. We also visited the Peabody Essex Museum, which is hosting a particularly nautical exhibit through September 1. Turner and the Sea is a deep exploration of the work of England's greatest maritime artist, who was also a teacher of the craft of marine painting. His work is varied, but is especially noteworthy for his depiction of shipwrecks -- both natural and military. The most riveting part of the exhibit is "Trafalgar Squared," which  puts the viewer between two different paintings of the Battle of Trafalgar, at which England lost Admiral Nelson and many other men. On loan from the navy hospital in which they are normally displayed, these paintings compel the viewer to contemplate the grim realities of naval warfare.