The greatest news is that I might be working on my thesis on the Vasa, which is the period that interests me the most, the early 17th century. This is the same period that the colonies of North America were formed. It is with this love that even on my summer vacation locked in by a loving family, which really does not want to share my time with my other passions, gave me a brief break to see something related to my studies. I went to see the earliest wreck in North Carolina at the Currituck Lighthouse. I had the great luxury of speaking with one of the great park rangers who had the distinct honor to help in its recovery. The wreck has been surveyed in the same manner as our program with the Vasa but from East Carolina University who Have ironical now gone to record the lower gundeck on the Vasa while I have returned to the States. While the Carolla Wreck was covered with tarps to prevent further damage to it I got chills from looking at it; also from my studies in Europe I was able to glean something of its construction tradition. This wreck will soon be moved to the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum in Hatteras, North Carolina for public display and exhibition.
Shortly after this adventure I went to Florida to visit my German grandmother at her home in central Florida where I managed to pick up cow ear tags. Now what in the world would a college student want with cow ear tags you might ask? Well to make the story short; they are needed for this summers other field school through SDU; excavating the Princessan Hedwig Sophia, a Swedish 74 gun frigate which sank in 1715 in the Baltic. The tags will be used to mark the timbers of the wreck as SDU, the University of Kiel, and the Archaeological authorities of Schleswig-Holstein slowly excavate it. I did manage to get some rest while I was there and took a few pictures of its beautiful karst topography. While traveling around I was reading and writing on my potential thesis and began to wonder about how a humble geology major had managed to come this far, a thought which instantly reminded me how rich I am to have the family which has always supported my endeavors, while at times being baffled by my choices.
When I finally arrived back home it was the Birthday of my home country and I relished some good old family bar’ b’ que time. And shortly after went out to the Blue Ridge Mountains to visit family and see some of the areas which are still in my heart. I am currently working on clocks with my father, as this is one of the ways my family not only earns needed additional income in these hard times, but also holds some of our traditions and heritage together. It is with this that I have been archiving a clock in our family collection that is from the 3rd quarter of the 17th century to better my understanding of the traditions of its manufacture. I am also preparing for another tradition; the meeting to discuss the current issues of maritime archaeology in Virginia. Even on vacation from school I am thinking about what I can do to help the discipline and helping the next generation to become inspired. It has been my travels visiting my family which has inspired me and kept me going and I look forward to meeting the few people who can make it to the meeting of the Virginia Maritime Heritage Society and Conservation Association at the Green Leafe Pub and Grill in Williamsburg’s New Town shopping center this Saturday. I will be coming to be humbled as much as I am coming to bring new knowledge.
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