Three Sheets to the Wind

A short time ago, I spent some time doing genealogy. It is very odd what a person discovers about their ancestry. There are many ancestors in my past that make me smile when I think of them, people that I never knew but that I am carrying their genes. Some of it is not surprising. Some of it is deep rooted down to the core and I somehow knew it without really ever having heard it. My mom's ancestry was done by another family member on her side of the family. He has done much more extensive research than I ever did. He has even collected photographs of ancestors dating back to early 1800 Scotland. I set out to find out more about my dad's side of the family as I essentially knew nothing about them. I was surprised to find that they were a most prolific bunch of people. It was nothing for their families to have 13 to 16 children. My original ancestor on my dad's side that came to this country came here from London as the captain of a ship carrying supplies to the new world. He never stayed but he did have a son that stayed and lived in Virginia.

This little creation is a tip of the hat to that ancestor. To say someone is 'three sheets to the wind' is to say that they are intoxicated. It is a nautical phrase. Sheets are not the sails but rather the ropes that secure the sails. If the sheets are unsecured, the sails are flapping. The ship is free to rock and roll. Therefore, sailors began to refer to wobbley, intoxicated behavior as being 'three sheets to the wind'. 'Three sheets' was very drunk. To be 'one sheet' was only slightly drunk. I think the ship in my creation has all of its sheets secured. It is setting sail for a new land.