Today I had an "I love my species" moment.
I went by the library to return a film that I'd not seen in such a long time that I'd forgotten how good it was. On my way out, I reflexively checked the free books trolley by the door. An old man was arranging some books. I took a look and was immediately drawn in by a small, obviously seasoned book called The Attacks on the Tirpitz. I have lately been reading a lot of military and especially naval history ... our library has a decent selection on e.g. submarine warfare. I picked it up and held onto it while looking at the others. i grabbed one called Voyage to the Ends of the Earth, which looks to be about life on a polar research vessel. He engaged me and began telling bits of his story. He'd been born in '24 and had gone to England in '38 to pursue family genealogy. it was to be a one-year stay that turned into a seven-year one when his ride home took one of the first torpedoes of the Battle of the Atlantic. Eventually he asked if I'd served, and i was constrained to confess that no, I hadn't. I said that if I had to do it over, my dream billet would have been sonarman.
He picked up a DVD of Run Silent, Run Deep and pressed it into my hand, saying "I leave these here for people like you." I cannot describe how beautiful that moment was. i shouted thanks after him, but he sailed serenely on, perhaps contemplating his mortality, and not hearing me. Why else disperse the library of a lifetime onto the free cart?
I know what i am watching tonight. cn