Wanderlost

Today’s update arrives a little late due to weekend illness that affected me and a few other members of my family. We’re all better now, thankfully. Sorry for the delay.

As a few folks predicted, the conch called Tuvia, the transportation whale. For those seeking subtext, I want to note that I got Tuvia’s name from Tuvia Bielski, the Jewish leader of resistance to Nazi occupation in Poland who led a group of refugees in the forests and rescued 1,200 Jews from the Holocaust. I think of Tuvia the whale as a rescuer in his own way, though the circumstances are much less dire.

Speaking of subtext, a few folks here and on Facebook noted a reference to Piggy from Lord of the Flies, blowing the conch. I wish I was that clever, but it has been years — decades! (ack!) — since I read the book, so I cannot claim it as an intended allusion. Maybe it’s an unconscious influence? Whatever it is, I am pretty amused by people pointing it out.