Big Beautiful World 7 -- Fisherman's Memorial, Gloucester, MA

I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating, and tell all your friends to pass it along: It’s a big, beautiful world out there. Let’s stop trying to screw it up. What do you say? Gloucester, MA is, of course, known as a fishing port and in its nearly 400 years they have, also of course, lost ships and men to the sea. The city has seen fit to erect a memorial to the fishermen, complete with a statue (The Man At The Wheel), a quote from a psalm ("They that go down to the sea in ships", Psalm 107:23, KJV) and a ring of granite markers with plaques inscribed with all the names of the men who died on the sea, from 1716-2011. It's all weighty and sobering with a melancholy loveliness, as The Man At The Wheel looks out over the harbor, watching over his lost brothers.The statue is quite moving, and much-photographed. Over in the corner, the memorial turned personal. Wired to the railing, those flowers weren't going anywhere.Sometimes, the world astonishes me with its poignance. Rest easy, sailors.