December
9, 2000
At
Sea
Trifling over Trivia
By Lois Joy  
0600: I awakened to a strange orange-gold light shining into my starboard
cabin. "What's happening?" I thought as a sat up with
a start. "Gunter is on watch; he must be aware of the situation. Perhaps
it's a freighter, but then why is the light not white?" We
hadn't seen one freighter since leaving Cape Verde. Thankful
that I no longer had to grope for my glasses since my Lasik surgery,
I focused on the ball of color on the horizon, bobbing and sometimes
disappearing behind the waves. It was the moon-setting behind
the seas like a glowing lantern!
0800: (ZULU time) Now on watch for over an hour, there is still no
sun, but the sky gradually lightens, revealing clouds covering the 360-degree
horizon, with a few above as well. These are different clouds,
cumulus; perhaps they will bring us a fresh-water shower today.
As the sun finally peeks through the cloud cover, its rays spread wide
like a gigantic fan palm, I am reminded of my Sunday School days as
a child, when the Bible verse "The heavens declare the glory of
God," was invariably accompanied by such a graphic.
Photo to come: "The heavens
declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork."
Psalms 19:1
As the sky turns to a beautiful blue, less pastel than the previous
days at sea, the grey clouds turn into fluffy, friendly white cotton.
I gaze up at them, searching for animals I might find there. I
am again thrown back to my childhood on the farm, loitering along the
way to bring the cows in for milking, Pal, our German shepherd, at my
side. I would lay down, guiltily, under the spreading oak,
carefully position my head on a flat stone, and daydream about the fluffy
sheep and puppies living up there in heaven.
Photo to come: The western sky
turns pink, with friendly clouds lining our path.
How thankful I am this day to have the time to gaze at the rising sun,
to discern the weather by the clouds, to be on watch under the star-studded
skies, and to think about nothing but trivia!
My only goal-oriented thoughts at this hour are:
-What shall
I have for breakfast when I am off watch?
-Should I continue writing my stories today, or should I finish reading
Tristan Jones' Yarns, or should I tackle reading the Pacific Bliss
manual, the Raytheon autopilot and B&G sections, a daunting thought!
- Should we remain on ZULU time (the same as UTC and Greenwich
time) because it is convenient for the daily "Vin Rouge"
SSB network, the German news, and the weather reports-and our watches
are set to this time-or should we adjust to whatever time zone it
is here (Greenland?). Otherwise, the sun will come up
later and later as we sail farther west each day.
Thank God for these solitary watches. If forces one to be out
here with the Creator.
"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart,
be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer."
Psalms 19:14
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