On the Ocean

Wednesday.  Late afternoon.  Not quite time to dress for dinner.  Enough time to read a couple of chapters of my book.  Michael’s taking a nap.  I go out on our balcony with my Kindle, sit on one of the two chairs, put my legs up and rest my feet on the railing.  I open my Kindle and then I look up.  I close my Kindle.

I love the sound of the ocean.  The water is very calm today and it feels as if we’re gliding on glass.  We’ve left Australia, traveled north through Indonesia and we’re now close to the Philippines heading around Borneo to Muara (Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei) but you’d never know it because no matter which direction I look there is nothing but water.  When we were traveling up the coast of Australia from Sydney, our port-side balcony always enabled us to see the coast of the continent.  But here, even though we’re navigating through the many islands situated in this part of the world, we’re still so far away to any of them that I see nothing but ocean. 

Yesterday, the Captain made an announcement about the fishing boats that were around through much of the day.  I didn’t see them up close but, apparently, many people were concerned that the fisherman were in distress.  The Captain assured us that these fisherman, holding buckets over their heads, were merely requesting water or food from our ship.  For security reasons, of course, and the safety of the passengers, no cruise ship is going to slow down to pass along food or water.  But today, there is no one out there. 

I’m always amazed on days like these when I see a few birds and wonder how they’ve managed to get this far without land in sight.  But I have read about birds that can soar and sleep for days and days in the air without ever touching land.  I don’t see any birds this afternoon.

Sitting on the balcony, listening to the powerful sounds of the waves, and seeing absolutely nothing except the ocean, it’s hard to be concerned about anything.  The vastness of it all makes me realize how tiny my life is – not in the eyes of God who created all of this – but realizing how very small we are in the scheme of things.  I am definitely not the center of the universe – as so many of us think we are at different times in our lives.  

Wednesday night.  Nine p.m.  We just returned to our room after a show.  There is a magnificent full moon out tonight – bella luna.  It’s truly amazing and it reminds me of the full moon over the Puget Sound.  However, here, the moon’s reflection stretches all the way to the horizon whereas the reflection at home ends in West Seattle.   The sound of the waves is hypnotic and very peaceful. 

What a glorious day to be on the ocean.