Thursday, December 28, 2023
"Fear no more the heat of the sun, nor furious winter's rages;
Thou, thy worldly task is done, home art gone and taken thy wages."
William Shakespeare
Jimmy certainly knew a thing or two about heat working for meagre wages on those long hot days of July when we loaded pulp boats from Spain and drank "sour" red table wine if we got our hands on some from a Spanish deck hand. It was back breaking labour but Jimmy made it seem lighter because of his laughter and jokes or plans for going to a dance down the shore in Saint Francis with our hard earned pay, partly spent on a pack of cigs and a case of beer.
Jimmy also knew how bone numbingly cold it could get down at the wharf loading freight boats for Newfoundland on a February night working the overnight shift when there'd be enough names called for us to make the fourth or fifth gang if a couple of larger freighters were tied at the dock.
We all stood in a train caboose crammed together as Allison Digdon called out the litany of names from his ledger for each hired gang of stevedores. By the time our names were close, the caboose would be almost empty and we'd have fingers crossed waiting to hear J. E. Hadley and R. J. O'Neill hollered out by Allison, to which we'd yell in response "HERE"!!! Our names seemed like those of saints being chanted by the church priest to which the gathered flock would respond "pray for us". Only, in our case, we were praying to be hired because the money was really good being a stevedore!
Those back shifts had their moments, especially when we'd head to the cooper's shack during breaks to sit around the stove that James Michael Grady kept all fired up through the night. We'd have a mug-up of hot tea while enjoying the warmth and sometimes, in the middle of the night, there was something almost holy about the sleepy, quiet atmosphere of that shack with its wood smoke, the tarry rope smells, and the feel underfoot of wood shavings covering the heavy, wooden floor boards. We had big dreams in those quiet moments, mostly about girls we hoped to meet at a local dance! We sure had some fun times in our teenage years mixed in with a few bumps, here and there, along the way.
Rest in Peace J. E. You were a true friend and a great companion to your buddy R. J.
