Ahoy mates. I hope you be in a good mood for a yarn. A tale as big as the biggest creature in all the world. Ay, that’s right. We be talkin’ ’bout the whale. But not just any whale. This be the mighty Moby Dick. But this’ll be no free ride for ye. Not by a long stretch. Ay, you’ll be tendin’ to first mate duties all the way. So, heave ho and away we go.

Since you’ll be tendin’ to first mate duties, maybe ye heard o’ Starbuck. Yes?

What’s that ye say? Never heard of Starbuck? Well, shiver me timbers. Maybe the plank’s in your future. Because you’re startin’ to sound like a landlubber.

But first, I’ll grab some grog and let ya in on some Starbuck secrets. Ay, and they don’t include coffee.

Starbuck was a Nantucketer and a Quaker. And he was also the first mate on the Pequod ship. Ay, that was the whalin’ ship skippered by none other than Captain Ahab hisself.

And Starbuck agreed to sail with Captain Ahab on his mission to hunt and kill the great white whale, Moby-Dick. Sure enough, he went along on his own accord. But he figgered Ahab’s motives made no sense. As Starbuck put it,  “Don’t make sense to hold a vendetta against nature itself.”

Ay, ya see Starbuck was a bit of a spiritual man. Most say he was downright rational. And a firm believer in the laws of nature. And by that he figgered whales be like humans in at least one way. They probably do all they can to protect themselves from harm and death, too. So, naturally they’d be likely to protect themselves from hunters.

And Starbuck, bein’ a reasonable, rational man, figgered it was a bad idea to kill whales just for vengeance.

Now, I ain’t gonna tell you the whole story about Starbuck, Ahab, and Moby Dick. Specially since there’s a book with the whole story in it. Read it this evenin’ when you’re through with your first mate duties.

And when you’re through with that book, I’ll have another for ya to read. I put it right where you can find it.

And the first page goes like this…

Hey little mate, let’s go set sail
In search of the songs from the humpback whale,
The one with the smile and the powerful tail.
Go get your gear, let’s go set sail.

Don’t forget, the book’ll be right here for you to read. Now, get back to work. Or it’s the plank for ya.

(https://www.amazon.com/Hey-Little-Mate-Tony-Funderburk/dp/1093647426/)

Stay tuned,