i’m back! it’s been over a month since i wrote last — i’m sorry, but you know how life goes. it speeds up just as you are getting used to it and runs you over, leaving you a tangled mess in the road. that pretty much sums up my last month up here in alaska. i took my day off in glacier bay and enjoyed the sun and warmth of alaska, only to get thrown back into boat life at an exceptional rate. the last few weeks have been a blur of children, shirley temples, hot chocolates and messy beds.
i can pull one amazing memory for you, one thin wispy strand of memory from the pensieve of my mind. it was last week; i was given another glacier bay day off, and while i was extremely tired and worn out, i dragged my weary body out of bed and got off the boat. i took the bike and wheeled it up the dock and then stopped to watch the ngsb disappear around the bend into the park. i had my mug of tea in one hand and the bike in the other. i had a mind to see the campground – see if there was a shelter to sit in and watch the sun rise – so i headed down to the trail. as i rounded the corner, i saw a moose and a sign indicating that i couldn’t take the bike down the path. so i turned back and set the bike down and straightened up. i looked back toward the trail, but the moose was gone. my interest was peaked, so i grabbed the bike and went back to the main road. crossing, not thirty feet in front of me, was two moose. i thought to myself, this could be either very cool, or very dangerous. i waited until the moose were up ahead and then i slowly followed. i walked the bike toward the lodge, very aware of the dangerous animals in front of me. shortly after i began walking, a van from the nearby town of gustavus passed me and then stopped. he offered to let me walk next to him in order to pass. i stayed nearby, letting him keep between me and the moose, and we got incredibly close. they seemed to pay us no mind, except when another car would pass us by and then they would flinch and shoot up a bit. we got to the lodge entrance and he tipped his hat to me and drove toward town. i set the bike in the grass and stayed to watch the moose graze. it was a sunny, cool morning and the moose were in no hurry.
another amazing memory (yeah, ok, i can pull more than one if i put my mind to it) was this week in glacier bay. we were tired; we had a safety meeting. the weather was beautiful and the guests were all outside awaiting a calving that was sure to come. j, the chief mate, sent us out in search of various safety equipment, and as we headed up the stairs, i heard the radio “that’s sure to be a big one, grab on to something.” we ran up the remaining stairs and burst through the door in time to see a large piece of ice fall. a huge chunk. a whole front piece. the resulting wave was incredible.
some photos of the last month: