I just finished my first essay of the semester! Whoo hoo! It's been quite awhile since I've written one about literature, but I'm done now, and I don't quite feel ready for bed, so I'll update you on my trip some more! Where were we? Feb 6th...
I wrote a poem that day in my journal, titled "Sea Yearnings":
Shall I away to sea again?
The sickness now gone
[misery of miseries!]
replaced by sunshine
bursting from within.
I shall most likely
away to sea again,
for my heart will yearn
white-capped waves
bristling with foam
rolling on endlessly,
hard labor and little
time to daydream
with long stretches
of dreamtime and
mindful meanderings.
Cut off from the
land--no more news,
no more gossip.
Just the ship, which
becomes an entire world
floating, rocking to and fro
on blue, grey-green water.
All the time in the world,
and more, for reflection.
The outside world fades away
into cloudy and calm skies.
Indeed, for all these things
my heart will yearn
and I shall away to sea again.
Feb 8, 2010
*0015: Yesterday was quite something. I woke up at 0430, along with Ben, and groggily got up on deck, urging myself to keep my eyes open because, "Seeing a rocket go off into space is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!" (One was scheduled to leave Earth at that time.) However, no rocket was sighted. Darn. I went back to bed and tossed and turned, (or rather...was tossed and turned) and couldn't fall asleep again. During the six hours of my watch that day, I witnessed something pretty amazing...the sight of land! The Dry Tortugas!
First sight of dry land!
It is amazing what a change of mood overtakes a ship once dry land is sighted. Our watch became a lot more lax and everyone was happy and smiling, snapping many photos. I have to say, this part of FL is absolutely stunning...pristine white islands with crystal blue water and palm trees. We are currently anchored near Fort Jefferson, which is an amazing brown, crumbly structure that takes up an entire islands. The birds here are loud and full of life. James Audubon actually came here often and studied the birds here. I didn't realize that. I worked for the Audubon Society last summer, so it's nice to get a bit more background info about "the man behind it all."
Little old me smiling as we spot land
Also...today, I climbed the rigging along with my watch members. My gosh, it was so high up. Absolutely terrifying. I have an intense fear of heights, which isn't good because I love climbing UP things...rocks, trees, what-have-you. I just sometimes am paralyzed when facing the fact I have to...go...back...DOWN. Blargh. I pleasantly surprised myself today though! I went up much higher than planned and returned without a panic attack.
View from the top of the mast
View of the bowsprit. And of my hand.
Ben, giving me the "thumbs-up" as we stand at a dizzying height
Sometimes I think I actually live for the thrill of getting over my physical fears. I am silly indeed. I walked away after getting down, with a stupid grin on my face. Rich had to point it out before I even noticed, ha.
Project update: Note to self: Never put two humanities students together in a lab. My partner Anna and I were terrible with our microscope slides. I broke a slide cover and then chipped another. When we finally put a new slide under the microscope, we couldn't see anything, and then we realized that we accidentally had put on THREE slide covers which were stuck together instead of just one on top of the sample! Oy. We just had to laugh at ourselves. It was the perfect comedy sketch...two humanities students together in a lab together automatically spells D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R.
Also, funny incident at dinner. I looked over at Rich, and he was poking at his potato salad rather disgustedly. A few of us realized he had found a piece of gum in it. Yeep.
Feb 9, 2010
1714: Around 0800 or 0900 yesterday morn, we took turns getting onto a small motorboat and set sail for Fort Jefferson. The ride itself was quite fun--we roared through the waves, spraying water everywhere. I had no idea what was in store though. I literally gasped as we docked onto the island. It was truly breath-taking. The hexagonal structure was crumbly and old.
The beach was gorgeous. The water so clear, I could see the details of fish and plant life as I peered over the side of the brick moat. The beach itself was littered with all sorts of dried up sea life--sea sponges, coral, sea shells, seaweed, bahamian sea fans (light and dark purple)...I wanted to take one home so badly, but Leave No Trace!
What I wanted to take home: Bahamian Sea Fan
Man-of-War Jellyfish I found on the beach
I must go off to dinner now! I'll continue later.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And I will post Part IV tomorrow. Hopefully, that'll be the last installment about this trip. Phew. My bed is gently calling my name.
No comments:
Post a Comment