Roughly 150,000 mornings ago, Henry Hudson sailed into what is now New York harbor. I hereby propose that we scrap Columbus Day-since Cristoforo never deemed this geography worthy of a reconnoiter– and, instead, celebrate a newly-declared Hudson Day. Our politicians could make us happy that way.

 

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This morning this Half Moon replica raised its anchor off Bay Ridge Flats and sailed northward. The haze lent the ship a ghostly suggestion. Might that really be Captain Hudson voyaging upriver in a time fissure removing him from his era by 150,000 days? What notation would he have written in the log as the Staten Island ferry breezed southward here?

 

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Would he have sworn off any hard drink or tobacco after seeing the Queen Mary 2 make for the Narrows, as we can recognize off the port bow?

 

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What fearful conjecture might he have toyed with to account for this large structure in today’s Hoboken? And what might he conclude about the natives in the red sailing craft?

 

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What terror would have gripped the Captain and crew as they studied the monumental artifacts of a civilization off to his right? Did he contemplate turning back south and fleeing for the safety of the high seas southeast of the Narrows? Ahoy, Henry, time traveler! We might be friendly.

Images by Will Van Dorp.