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August 4, 2018

The sun just slipped below the horizon like a shy child in a room filled with adults, but its glow is still coloring the sky in glorious shades of orange and melon and peach with gold-hemmed clouds. Today was a day of rest and letting go of schedules, worries, and internet service, and sitting on the balcony watching the sunset made for a very happy ending.

We started out the morning with a brisk sit on the balcony enjoying the mountains that were not nearly as far away as I expected. What I loved most was the remoteness of everything we saw. There were a couple of houses, or possible compounds, but the first looked like a hunting lodge of some sort, and the second had a small lighthouse, which must come in handy given the chill of the morning air. It only made my morning tea taste sweeter enjoying it from the balcony.

Dan and Alicia both enjoyed massages this morning. For anyone who knows Dan, this may seem a bit hard to believe, but it seems that it’s hard for a daddy to say no to a daughter at any age. Hence, Dan had to pretend to suffer through a deep tissue massage that made him feel terrific enough that he agreed to have another one in a couple of days.

Being at sea for the day may be heavenly for me, but it’s hard for kids of any age, since they seem to get bored the moment something new and exciting isn’t being performed in their presence. And internet service disappeared as the morning wore on, the land got farther away, and the seas began to get pretty rough, so we were all grateful for the pool, which gave the kids a chance to burn some energy while their mom got in a quick run.

Now this is the part where I admit what an idiot I am because as I watched the grandkids playing in the pool, I kept thinking how darned cool it was that the ingenious people at Celebrity Cruise Lines came up with a pool that had an actual wave format to it. Every few minutes, the water would swell like mad at one end of the pool, creating some pretty serious wave action for body surfing, which was kind of what everyone in the pool seemed to be doing. But when I started to see my granddaughter struggling to swim out of a wave, I was on my feet and poolside, just in case. Fortunately, her big brother got tossed in the same direction and shoved her the couple of feet she needed to break the wave’s hold and grab for the railing.

As she and her brother climbed out of the pool, I could see they were both scanning the area to see if anyone was looking, and while they later told me they were not one little bit scared, I noticed that when they saw me standing there, they both broke into a relieved smile and waved. It wasn’t until we were headed for dinner when I asked about why all of the pools on board had been drained that I learned the pool didn’t actually have a simulated ocean wave – the seas that had been making all of us walk like it was our first day on legs today were just exceptionally rough, making the water in the pool slosh and form waves of their own. This is simply proof that I was fortunate to graduate from any kind of science class – ever!

When I was a child of about ten, my parents took my brother, sister, and me to a hunting lodge courtesy of one of the salesmen trying to sell parts to my father in his job at the typewriter company. My little sister was only two or three, and we were all at the edge of this muddy pond. Kelley was sitting in a lawn chair, and suddenly, the chair buckled in the way that old aluminum lawn chairs sometimes do, and she tumbled right into the muddy water. Not even thinking, I jumped in, clothes and all, and grabbed Kelley before she got much more than a mouthful and a good scare, but I remember how frightened my parents looked when I handed my baby sister to them and emerged from the mucky water, probably looking and smelling like some kind of swamp monster. Since then, I’ve always been a little nervous when children and water are involved, so I was glad when everything today turned out well and we all headed onto the next activity.

Tonight was the first live show we attended – I think it wasBoogie Wonderland, but don’t quiz me on the title…just know that I knew all but two songs of the 1970s musical revue, which probably shares more information about my age than one should share in this type of blog.

The biggest surprise of the day though, was one I didn’t expect at all. As we were walking on one of the decks, looking out at the ocean around us, we saw a whale tale. I’ve heard people talk about whale watching and how neat it is, but I have to admit, I never ever thought I’d see it myself – ever! So it was epic seeing that whale tale pop up from the water and immediately knowing what it was because – well, it’s just one of those things you’ve heard about and seen pictures of so many times that when you’re actually lucky enough to see one, you just know what it is. The day went on, and it was another terrific day, but as I’m watching the last of the light giving way to the pitch black night to come, I’m feeling very grateful for a wonderful day at sea, the gift of laughter and some down time from technology, even if it means my daily blog will be late in posting, and a chance to see a whale tail in real life once before my time on this planet is up.