From All of Us Here in the Falklands

From All of Us Here in the Falklands

Tucked in amongst the tins, hand warmers, chocolate, and granola bars was a plain brown paper bag with some writing on it. It read:

“An extra gift from the Falklands. Happy Sailing”

A gift no less. Another unexpected kindness. Another reason to fall in love with this place and the people who call it home. This picture shows what that bag contained.

At home I have a sailing treasure chest. A Hall of Fame if you will. In it are things that I could never part with. They are things that have come from all over. Things that you can only get by going there. Things that mean the world to me. These are going straight there.

There’s more than meets the eye here. I laughed out loud looking at the size of the gin bottle. I figured I knew what Jenny had been thinking standing in front of row of bottles. Something along these lines I’ll wager “Better get something that wont have the whole crew drunk, out of their minds, and behaving badly….”

Clearly Ms Smith knows a little about sailors, solos especially. Written or otherwise, there’s plenty of evidence around detailing how the bottom of a bottle has provided refuge from gales and storms. I’m not much of a drinker but I can tell you that there have been times when it seemed a toss-up between adding spirits or reducing sail.

I sent a note to Jenny thanking her for the unexpected gift. In that thankyou, I noted that the size of the bottle was a wise and prudent choice for the above-mentioned reasons. She responded some time later confirming my suspicions. She had indeed chosen thinking that prudence should rule the day.

Sir Salty McGrog-Hog’s unmistakeable stare aside, well done and thank you Jenny Smith. To the Falkland Islands Beerworks, thank you for the fine ale. And to the rest of the fine people here in Stanley who have empathetically watched over me p, concerned about my well-being and safety, thank you.

Follow my tracks in real-time:
https://bit.ly/svseaburban