Life At Sea

Poul Anderson, The Byworlder, VIII.

From a bleached mahogany promenade deck of the flagship, Skip sees:

miniature parks;
hanging gardens;
the fleet spread across kilometers;
the service vessel, machine shops humming;
a factory ship processing kelp;
a mineral-extractor craft;
the trawler on the horizon;
blue and green surging sea;
dancing dust;
a few bright clouds.

With human knowledge and imagination, he reflects that the wind sings of the distance that it covers whereas an animal would merely feel the wind. When he strikes up conversation with his target, Yvonne, Skip gives:

"...thanks to any gods that might expect it." (p. 82)

Exactly my attitude to the gods. I am grateful for good things whether or not they were given by anyone. We must certainly thank the ancestors without whom we would not be here.