"Dad's Coming!"

Homer spent the summer of 1873 in Gloucester, Massachusetts. On Sunday, August 24, an especially strong storm claimed nine boats and the lives of 128 men. This image was most likely inspired by that incident. The life of a fisherman was always dangerous, and storms and danger were constantly in the minds of the women and children left behind. One cannot resist speculating that the boy, with his straw hat as a symbol of his innocence, will himself soon be on one of those boats with someone waiting behind watching for him.