Onramp to the Rest of the World

Growing up on the banks of the River Clyde showed me a great appreciation for the sea. The sheer beauty of the view, from the Clyde, is a perfect comparison to the sheer scale of her impact on the world and everything in it. From the building of vessels to the carrying of cargo her basin is a baptismal of birth and rebirth.

Diaspora, being her most prized commodity to pass Dumbarton Rock and round Gourock, makes an effort to catch the sun which lay west in itself flows quicker than the tide which carried her out onto the onramp to the rest of the world.

Today marks the birthday for the US Navy and an important mention in that diaspora. Captain John Paul Jones lead the United States Navy in its maritime mission in the war of independence. Although his most famous quote is, "I have not yet begun to fight!" my personal favorite being, "If fear is cultivated it will become stronger, if faith is cultivated it will achieve mastery." It goes far beyond the theatre of war and can be said in any situation we face in life.

I am reminded today especially of my dearest friends in Dunoon and the importance the US Navy had in the wonderful setting of Holy Loch. Knowing many from the submarine force who made it home and stayed long after its closing, choose faith to cultivate rather than fear. A diaspora of their own in a way under the foundational force of a Scotsman most remembered for his victory over the very Navy from whence he came.

South of Dumfries in Kirkbean stands his birthplace museum. https://johnpauljonesmuseum.com/