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Hello Readers,
Is August procrastination month? As much work as I've done, editing my current manuscripts, I feel strange that I haven't written much new material. Or maybe it's because I watch too much tv? But I'm not going to feel bad about spending four hours watching the Pirate Gold of Adak Island on Netflix. So in an effort to accomplish two birds and all that - I'll write my review of the show. If you're not interested, dip out now. And have a wonderful month! :)
Pirate Gold of Adak Island
Couldn’t stop watching. Could not stop whether I wanted to or not. And maybe I should have stopped when I belatedly noticed it was being touted as “season one”, but I didn’t clue into that until too late. The title kind of says what it’s about. There is factual evidence in the form of real gold coins buried in tin cans that have been found on Adak Island—a tiny little guy in the middle of the Pacific Ocean—closer to Japan than the U.S and toward the end of the Aleutian Islands off Alaska. It is a cold, foggy, and breezy place with maybe a couple of months out of the year where the ground isn’t frozen.
The island was used as a military base during WWII to help fight Japan and because of that, was transformed by a swarm of soldiers making themselves at home. Among other (now crumbling) building structures, the military left a terrific airport, but also tons of land mines, hidden spikes in the ground, and live ammo dumps.
The story goes that during WWII some military boys were digging trenches or something and came across metal cans filled with gold coins. Two cans of treasure were found on two different parts of the island. It was Adak Island legend that in 1892, while fleeing the armies, a pirate named Gregory Dwargstaf hid today’s equivalent of $365 million in gold on the island. Fast forward to today when the current mayor decided to hire—on commission—scientific experts and tradesmen to finally find the remaining treasure to help Adak and its tiny population of people survive.
Since the show is on Netflix, someone pitched it, so regardless if the treasure hunt is successful, hopefully Adak is garnering some profits. I’ll not spoil how season one ends, but I found the story, the history, the people, the exhausting efforts, and the way the show ended exciting.
Flash forward to me sitting on the deck of my cabin enthusiastically regaling my family about the show when my stupid brother-in-law, Scott, suddenly makes me feel like I’ve been played for a sucker. “Have you ever seen The Curse of Oak Island?” he says with a smirk. “Nine seasons in that one. It’s a dark hole of nothing. Next, you’ll be telling me you fill out the Publisher’s Clearing House entry envelopes and purchase the magazines in hopes the guy with the balloons will knock on your door.”
My mouth may have been hanging open as my mind spun wondering how I could have missed hearing anything about Oak Island. And nine seasons with nothing to show for it? Was this a Lucy thing pulling the football out of reach for gullible Charlie Brown? And do I want to watch The Curse of Oak Island? If the answer is yes, (being on a high from Adak, I kind of do), does that make me gullible too?
But the Treasure of Adak Island is different. They really did find treasure dated from the time of Pirate Gregory Dwargstaf. So my show is not a hood-winker, right?
But there sat Scott still looking all superior while drinking his whiskey. He’d arrogantly spoiled Oak Island, made me feel silly, and thrown shade on my passionate review.
“Your face is stupid,” was all I could think to say.
He deflected my sword-fighting parry with a wink and a smile.
Sigh. I don’t know what to do now.
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