I give thanks for the cool greyness of the day today as there are parts of me that saw the sun for the first time this year yesterday and they'd rather not again so soon! Also because I decided last night, feeling the greyness of the prospect of return beginning to descend on my spirits, to write my blog earlier than usual while the gratitude were fresh in my mind.
I'm grateful for seeing unbroken expanses of sea and sky, the changing patterns of clouds and the surface of the water... For being awake for the passage through the unspellable isles this time (if you know the journey you'll know where I mean!)
... for the expectation on faces arriving and leaving the ship (and concentration of car drivers in foreign lands!) for sometimes managing to hear of the adventures they're on and not feel envy...
... for watching young couples carefully tending to their young children, the old affection between older ones; folk enabling those less physically fortunate, gaggles of friends and joyous dockside family reunions. If you are mostly preferred by others to be elsewhere you can forget it's not the norm, and that there's all those warm bonds of companionship to appreciate on other people's behalf. I also give thanks for the all the glimpses of relationships I'm very glad I'm not part of!
... for the snatches of conversation and inclusion I have from the occasional passengers who pause, and the friendly Orca team...
...for not having to shop and cook and do household chores, nor deal with hard days at the office of my life..
... for organising what to bring with me quite well: special thanks to little bags of Cheerios and little cartons of rice milk, a travel mug to take my tea outdoors, a j-cloth moistened with washing up liquid to wipe up and part of a waterproof picnic blanket to sit on wet seats. The last one and I parted company at some point - I probably wandered off and forgot it, or thought I'd put it in my bag and missed. That's one of the downsides of travelling alone, not having anyone literally look out for you.
... for forgetting my cash card so that I wasn't tempted to treat myself unduly well... I have to treat myself to a new TV when I get back and that will be shock enough to the financial system.
...and for managing not to think about all the difficult things that haven't gone away just because I did
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