A sign at Auke Bay Harbor educating boaters on what to do should they come in contact with Humpback whales in the harbor. Auke Bay is renowned for, and a popular tourist area for whale sightings.
After all my travels from Out the Road to the Valley today, I was still not ready to head home, and decided to stop in Auke Bay. This harbor is one of my favorite places to stop - the scenery is beautiful, the boats are interesting, and it is a calm place. I keep stopping at calm, all the while hoping to feel the calm Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't...........
My son - my youngest son - called me tonight from Iraq. He has been over there in the Green Zone for the past six months. He will be coming home in 2-3 weeks. The last time he was there he only had 2 hours notice that he was coming home. It will be the same thing this time. I may not know he is on the way back to the United States until he lands either in Qatar or someplace in Germany and has a chance to call me. But that's OK. He's coming home.
I grew up looking at boats - ships actually - very big ships. So I am always drawn to them. My father was a merchant marine for his entire career. He tried "shore jobs" a few times as me and my six younger brothers and sisters were growing up, but they never lasted for long. He always ended up back at sea.
He was born in Norway (as I also was), and trained on the Christian Radich (a training ship for young Norwegian boys who wished to join the Norwegian merchant navy)
He also worked as a merchant marine in England, Australia and Canada. He was a gypsey, as I am now. Seeing these small boats in Auke Bay Harbor brought him back today. I don't know why, because he and I have not spoken in over 20 years.......
My visit to the harbor this afternoon also brought back a haunting song from a good number of years ago by Gordon Lightfoot:
Nice pictures, I like seeing all the ships, and boats in the harbor.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear #2 son will be home soon, two tours in that place is enough.
Interesting story about your Dad. After a lifetime at sea I can imagine he has seen things that most people will ever never see.
Gordon Lightfoot was always one of my favorites, and the song about the Edmund Fitzgerald is one of his best. The legend of the Edmund Fitzgerald is a story I've watched more than once on TV . The storms on the Great Lakes can be very destructive, a lot of huge Great Lakes ships have gone down in those storms.
I Love Ya Doll,
MB/LC