alaska

The last week of September found me "cruising" for the first time. No, not on a motorcyle. (Though I am a very willing passenger!) Nor in a hot rod or automobile of any sort. Cruising, my friends, on a large ship in an even larger ocean. With my sister who we call Mary, my mother who we call Mom, and my precious grandfather who we call Papaw. The four of us boarded a ship in Vancouver, BC bound for Alaska and I will never be the same.

The whole week was restful. Mary and I learned how to play shuffleboard. (All of the laughter made it in an aerobic activity.) We played little games, went to the luxurious spa where mom treated us with fancy massages and the like. (I've never enjoyed seaweed so much in my life!) We slept in if we wanted to. Busied ourselves with activities too many to number. Dressed down every day. Dressed up every night. Most nights Papaw invited his pretty ladies to join him before dinner for cocktails. I've never met anyone for cocktails before. It was wonderful. Papaw, in his suit or tuxedo, looking debonair, would rise to meet each of us as we entered the room, always commenting on dress or jewelry or some other mark of our femininity. Motioning to the server he let it be known that we should have all of the treats in pretty glasses that we would like to consume. A couple of men had the gall - or maybe just the curiosity - to ask Papaw if I was his wife. He will be 83 in February. I will be 30 in July. We always laughed and explained our relation. In a way, I thought it silly and wonderful. I consider it a blessing to be on the arm of a gentleman no matter what his age. (Do men like Papaw still exist? Oh, how I long for my very own!)

And then there was Alaska. Better than the fancy dinners and all of the pampering was the beauty of Alaska. One morning, I awoke about 6 am, bundled up and headed outside to watch our approach into Glacier Bay. The beauty of it all led me to weep. They were not tears that I expected. But what I saw was so new and wonderful and before I knew it, the sight had hit the deepest part of my spirit and overwhelmed me in ways that my words still can not express. I spent the better part of that day by myself. Mary also had a similar experience. Mom and Papaw enjoyed the day as well, but each of us was alone to experience it. That evening, our dinner conversation centered around what we each had seen and felt during the day. Listening to the thunderous crashings and groanings of masses of ice and watching as they fell into the sea, we each marveled in a unique way. All of us stood in awe that day.

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He made the earth by His power; He founded the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heaven by His understanding. When He thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. (Jeremiah 51:15&16)