I'll have a blue Christmas without you

One of my homework assignments for the forest therapy course is to
find a “sitspot”, a place to sit with the natural world and allow nature to work
its way in. My sitspot on the ship is in the bow of the U deck.
When the crew is working on the deck, it can be quite noisy and some
parts of the engine are noisy too. I am glad to have my fancy musician’s earplugs.
They allow me to hear everything (even small details) but they lower
the decibel level to protect hearing. I use these when I need to.
But at the bow, there is a miraculous quiet, and I listen to the waves
against the ship, watching the birds and the changing sky.

On the starboard side in the early afternoon, or the portside in the morning,
I find the most exquisite variations in blue. Perhaps I’ll see a greenish blue--let’s
call it aqua,
or a light greyish blue or on cloudy days a darker grey like a blackboard.
I love to see the particular blue that falls somewhere between denim and
royal blue with tint of violet. Wherever the sunlight sparkles on the waves
you can always see diamonds, but I’ve noticed that in the places where the
water is darker you can also see blue sapphires. We left the Carribean Sea
on Fraser’s birthday (November 29) and since then I have seen
blue in every direction, sea and sky, as far, or further than you can imagine. 

The sky has pink and gold at sunrise and sunset, with a bit of purple.
On sunny days, which is most, the sky is a pale blue with cottony clouds.
At night, out here where there is no light pollution, the navy blue sky struggles
to be seen, squeezing through the stars. I cannot seem to see the
constellations I know because there are too many stars in the way! Alina,
4th officer, told me that the southern hemisphere has more stars in it. It’s true! 

I watch, and also feel with the blue water when it’s calm,
gently moving, when it’s rough, with big swells and whitecaps.
I reflect, think, ruminate, pray, muse, imagine…

     “Sometimes I sits and thinks.

And sometimes I just sits.”