Stepping onto Unsteady Ground

Stepping out onto unsteady ground, men learn patience and balance. 

Aurelius Kadzius

The Seminole Princess 

A horizon of white caps, my eyes play tricks on me, creating shapes out of their rise and fall, a pattern of natural flow my mind cannot understand.  Nature's hypnotizing effect. 

A rhythm to a world that I never knew; eyes are open but seeing little, squinting to see any shadow or shape against the vast edge of the world.  The giant infinity pool that is the Indian Ocean now.

It was good to feel so small and the world so big again.

Sun blistering the skin of my ears and neck.  I wedge myself in a corner between the tall handrails on the port side (Left side) of the bridge of the Seminole Princess.  The steel is hot, and AK carries an AK on this voyage. 

The sun is so bright a giant refrigerator light blasts down on me.  We are moving at a steady 17 knots.  The snore of the engine is steady. 

It is the day I am alone, and I am on watch.  I cherish it.  It feels good to be alone and face all these thoughts and memories: no signal or wifi. 

The constant change of the surface of the water with a steady horizon. 

My eyes have not started at something natural for so long a time in years.  It was a meditation for hours, a prayer.  A prayer I did every night on ship.

The water and vessel move together but in the same direction at times.  She will carry me, and I am its guardian for the next 4 hours, and however many days it takes to get to our destination.  

The ship is seasoned but treated with care.  I am left alone, I scan the horizon, No unnecessary tradition of small talk or niceties is expected.  I am to look for skiffs (Small quick Boats), and maritime law is open to interpretation.

The mind seems light and sharp, open and dumping all its garbage to be swallowed by these salty waters. It is good to have it be light again.

Fin.

A short tale where I left on impulse.

Learning balance in strange places.

Seek Knowledge & Grow Strong.