Dec. 13 - Some thoughts on Cape Horn

I had some quiet moments while we were all roaming around the area of Cape Horn National Park and found myself thinking about all the people who had died in their attempts either to circumnavigate the globe, or merely to discover what was beyond the horizon. These mariners set off, usually from Spain, Portugal, or England, not knowing if they would ever return, not knowing what wonders, or terrors, awaited them. The hardships they encountered were unimaginable to us. They navigated by the stars, they had only each other to ask for advice on setting a course, they had no knowledge of other peoples who might be living in unknown lands. Their journey, described in the book, Over the Edge of the World by Laurence Bergreen, was frightening, awe-inspiring, tragic, but ultimately successful and reading the book gave me a profound respect for what they had done. The memorial sculpture with the albatross in the center is beautiful and seems appropriate. The albatross is a bird forever on the wing or on the sea in search of sustenance, coming to land only to raise young. Most of these mariners to whom the memorial is dedicated were like the albatross, spending their entire adult lives, and ultimately dying on the sea while in search of a type of sustenance. I felt honored to be standing on this ground, looking at the waters that either carried them on in their search or abruptly ended that search. An awe-inspiring legacy.