November is a time for departures, you know...August isn’t bad as a choice, but November is more appropriate...Ishmael joined Captain Ahab’s crew when it was November in his soul.

My bones are in his November reach...The escort. Not so very far away, the door will open and in he’ll come, wearing an old bathrobe soiled with the residues of all the times, the stains and streaks and smears . . . and tears . . . tears from a thousand eyes...A time for departure, damp and drizzly—November, you see!

— David Berry • The Whales of August