It Floats…

[cathschaffstump]

I have my annual physical this afternoon. Yeah, I'm 47. I have a list of things that aren't quite working right to ask my doctor about. And some zany medical stuff. New studies suggest, for example, I shouldn't be taking calcium? Should I? And am I wheezy when you listen to my lungs? And why does my right eye dry out like that?

So nothing medically major. Just getting some mileage on the old chassis.

***

Bryon and I have made a major decision. We have decided cars are dead to us. That's right, American highway system. You are on notice. We intend to go everywhere by boat. Looking into constructing a canal from our house to Kirkwood and Jefferson. Like Venice, only more direct.

You might take it from the above that Bryon and I loved the cruise part of our vacation. I thought that we would be bored. We took books and I took notebooks for plotting. We figured that there would be a lot of downtime.

What changed? If you've been on a cruise, you know that there's great food. There is, and we do like great food, but that wasn't it. And there were shows to watch. You could catch in room movies for free, see Avengers for the 5th time, and catch musicals each night. There were parties. Kids enjoyed the Pirates! party, which taught them how to act for pirate night. (You haven't lived until you've seen Donald Duck shaking his booty every time a pirate talks about treasure. Treasure! the pirate would shout. And Donald and all the kids would shimmy.)

All great. Also great? Champagne tasting. Animation class. Meeting the captain for an autograph. Talking about Eastern European politics with a barista. A hot tub with a glass bottom. Goofy stealing your purse. Having your dining room staff follow you from dining room to dining room getting to know you. Towels shaped like monkeys hanging from clothes hangers in your room. The bartender in the District Lounge making Bryon non-alcoholic drinks off the menu. The ship whistle blowing excerpts of Disney songs when it's time to leave port.

All that was pretty good. Yeah. I'd do that again.

The biggest surprise for us is that we liked being on the boat. I thought it was like flying. At night there would be darkness outside, but occasionally you could see the lights from another floating city. I liked looking at the water, the smell of it. I love sitting in the portal chairs in our cabin watching us move. Bryon saw dolphins. I wasn't quick enough. One of our favorite morning activities was finding a spot out of the sun where the wind cooled you just enough, sitting in the deck chair, and enjoying being alive.

***

As I fantasize about future boat trips, I discover that traveling by boat isn't the extravagance everyone supposes. If you add up the cost of a plane ticket, restaurants, outings, hotel, and in country transport, you'd find the cost of almost any trip to be more expensive than taking a boat there. Of course, the question becomes whether you want to spend time on land or at sea. There seems to be a lot to be said for being at sea. You should give it a whirl, if you can.

***

Since there isn't much water, I'm going to do my best to get a spider web of canals out here. This summer, we need the irrigation anyway.

Mirrored from Writer Tamago.