Musings On Our Cruise...

So your mother is taking a turn telling about this trip. As all of you may know water is not my favorite habitat. I have told you that I much prefer my water in much smaller containers than an ocean! However, I have to admit this was very enjoyable. I even slept well with the slight roll of the ship and, when I left the sliding door slightly open, the sound of the waves splashing away from the ship as we cut through the small swells was peaceful and relaxing.

Since some of my favorite incidents could not be documented on camera, you only have my word pictures to go by. Shortly after "takeoff" (I think that is called "putting out to sea"), everything was so quiet and cool that I just sat on our veranda with feet propped up on the railing and let the world slip away. I was thinking out loud that I could do this all day. Your dad laughed. I think in relief since he had been worrying that I might not like it at all. It was great.

Two things happened at night, actually three counting the night that I put the metal water pitcher down on the edge of the tray which later caused it to fall over and break a glass in the middle of the night which made a lot of noise and likely woke up everyone above, below, and beside our room.

One of the other events was small but insightful. I woke and went outside to look at the sea. After getting my sweater because the wind was really cold, I went back out to take a better look at a curious "thing" with lights on the water coming very near us. It looked to be a collection of debris floating toward the ship. As it came closer I noticed small lights seemed to surround it and wondered if all floating junk on the ocean was marked that way. Continuing to watch I finally made out the shapes of many huge logs encircle by some kind of cable with the lights attached and pulled along by a small tugboat. Voila! Just timber going to the mills somewhere south along the coast. Most everything up there moves by water or air. Room for analogies here..."floating junk is not always what it seems" or "Heavenly Father marks the dangers in our lives but we have to be watchful" or "we are the logs, Heavenly Father is the tugboat moving us in the right direction, the gospel is the cable and lights keeping us together" or.... your turn.

The third event was also at night. I had left the drapes open just a crack so we would know when it was morning. Awaking momentarily, I noticed a small bright light shining in the small opening. Curious I got up to look and opened the drapes all the way. It was one of the most beautiful scenes I have ever had the opportunity to see. It literally took my breath away. There was the dark slightly jagged line of mountains, very narrow because it was so far away. Then the water almost as dark. There was just a small gathering of clouds above the mountains on a sky canvas dotted with hundreds of observable stars. And just at the top edge of the clouds the tip of a crescent moon clear and bright. Its lower part was shining though the clouds like a flashlight held behind white satin in a dark room. The clouds glowed and the light reflected in a pathway out across the water toward our ship. The Big Dipper, nearly on end, could not have held a drop. Orion was there, too, also in an unusual position from what we see at home. I quickly sketched the basic lines of things on a notepad thinking maybe someday I can learn to capture it on canvas. I watched until the moon was quite a ways up into the sky. Getting sleepy, I thought I could watch it longer if I lay with my head at the foot of the bed, but the next thing I knew it was morning.

So there you have my musings for now.