Nantucket Whaling Museum

Dear Diary,

I attended a Quaker Meeting in the morning and then for most of the day because of the heavy rains I hung out in the fabulous whaling museum.  It was so rich and layered that you could easily spend several hours browsing through the fascinating exhibits.  This is a detail of a full sperm whale skeleton that is hanging in the main lecture hall.  It washed up on Nantucket in the late 1997 and at 45 feet is just half the size of an adult whale. I've added an extra photo of a wonderful piece of scrimshaw from their vast collection as well as a street view from 'Sconset, the little fishing village at the opposite end of the island. 

I haven't been able to do any painting; just a bit of sketching which is fine.  And today I will spend some time at the historical society research library searching for any references to my ancestors.  Then it is off to the Maria Mitchell house and observatory.  She was America's first professional woman astronomer discovering a comet in 1848.  I think she is a woman after my own heart:

"We especially need imagination in science. It is not all mathematics, nor all logic, but it is somewhat beauty and poetry."

We leave this evening but I will throw a penny into the sea as we pass Brant Point lighthouse, a Nantucket tradition that will assure that I will return to the island someday; I'm sure I will, it is a magical place.