my scrawled/scrawling response to mlmm wordle # 240 and mlmm photo challenge # 365 which includes a very bad sea shanty! (Found it interesting that call and response 18th and 19th century sea shanties became zoom and tik tok trendies during lockdown/pandemic)

Like the Nonsuch’s crew, she steered by the stars, navigated by the moon.

Land-locked; a thousand miles from sea tang and snapping sails.

Storm-stayed; pandemic-locked, she waits to exhale the voyage.

the ballad of the nonsuch

ketch built to float easy on the sea

crewed by a gallant brave company

final destination still obnubilate

dreams of rich returns take shape

the customary maritime vignette

shirtless men, greasy with sweat

muscles screaming from the strain

set torn sails against the wind again

wordle word set used: nonesuch; obnubilate (cloud over; becloud; obscure); easy; float; greasy; wind; shape; scream; shirtless; return; men; word not used: apartment

The voyage of the Nonsuch to Hudson’s Bay in 1668, lead to the establishment of the Hudson’s Bay Trading Company two years later. It still exists and is “oldest incorporated joint-stock merchandising company in the English-speaking world.” Encyclopedia Britannica It’s interests, of course, have shifted from the fur trade and its namesake department store to real estate and other commercial businesses.

Some videos about the Nonsuch, a replica ketch constructed with 17th century methods and tools. The ship now resides in a gallery built specifically to hold it at the Manitoba Museum in Winnipeg, Canada.

featured image: by Veerendra on Pexels.com