Setting Sail

Here are the things I remember about the Coast Guard Eagle— the first day they put us in harnesses so we could learn to climb the foremast as the crew and students aboard set, maneuvered, and furled the sails. The sea was so rough by the third day that some students clipped themselves to the sides so they wouldn’t fall overboard as they were throwing up. This was taco day, so I had all the tacos I wanted. That the captain was a quintessential captain, whose favorite part of the day was clearly teaching the students celestial navigation. The fundamentals. And this dawn at sea, with a young sailor looking out across the Atlantic. And me, looking and him looking. That’s the very best part of the job.

Traveling now through Rwanda and South Africa, I remember all the other travels in my life. There’s lots of time for thinking. From Guatemala alone when I was in my early twenties to up in helicopters for the newspaper, to now, I find the more situations I’m in, the easier it is to maneuver through all of them. And that open skies and spaces allow the reorganization of experiences in my mind. So now, things that happened over the past year, are slowly starting to make sense. So here’s to setting sail!