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InkTober 2017: Day 25 – Ship

As far back as I can remember, travel has been part of my life. Whether it was road trips with family and/or friends or getting on a plane to explore some faraway place, I’ve been fortunate to visit some interesting places. In those travels, I’ve learned about cultures other than my own through the flavours of delicious foods and from warm conversations with people I wouldn’t otherwise have met.

Even though I love travel, not all of it has gone smoothly. I can think of two incidents that involved ships that made me sick to my stomach and fear for my life. Many years ago, I took a weeklong trip to France with one of my English cousins. This was long before the Chunnel (Channel Tunnel) came into being, so we crossed the English Channel on a 90-minute ferry ride to Calais. Other than our day-trip to the Palace of Versailles and the spectacular nighttime view from the top of the Eiffel Tower, our trip was uneventful. At least it was until our return crossing of the Channel.

During the return crossing, we sailed into a storm. At first, we assumed that as long as we were below deck and avoiding getting wet, all would be well. My cousin and I decided to get cups of tea to warm ourselves as the weather continued to worsen. We placed the tray with our cups of tea and a snack on the table where we sat. The sliding of that tray from one side of the table to the next made us aware of how rough the water was becoming; and it only got rougher. Eventually, the ferry was rocking so hard and steeply, that I grabbed my cousin and refused to let him go until the rocking calmed. Thankfully, it finally calmed, but not before my nausea reached a level where I could not control it.

The next time I was on a ship where the sailing was not so smooth, was during a cruise. I was traveling by myself, but I didn’t feel alone because I had assigned seating with a group of people for dinner every evening. In addition, early in the trip, I connected with a few other solo travelers and couples close to my age and most evenings after eating dinner, we chose an activity to do together. One evening while dancing in an onboard nightclub, the floor started to move below our feet. Then one of the women in our group lost her footing and fell to the floor – some members of my grouped teased her for not being able to handle a few drinks.

Shortly after that, a crewmember working in the nightclub started making his way around the room to tell guests they needed to close the club for the evening and that it was best for us all to return to our cabins. Why did they instruct us to end our night early? We were sailing through a huge storm, of course. The storm caused the ship to rock so much that when we looked out the porthole the horizon was wildly bobbing up and down. Seeing the horizon moving then feeling the unsteadiness of the ship under my feet made my stomach so queasy that going to my cabin was probably the best thing for me to do for the rest of that night.

I know my descriptions may not sound like terrible experiences. However, when the vessels meant to carry people safely over large bodies of water feel as if they’re about to capsize with you on them, it’s scary. Even so, I haven’t been put off the idea of traveling by ship in the future. The only question is, when will I be well enough to brave those rough unpredictable waters again…

 

InkTober 2017: Day 24 – Blind

My home gets a lot of light. On the brightest days, there’s no need to turn on a light until the sun starts setting. For a long time I had no blinds on the windows in my living room so the full power of daylight could find its way into my space. Fortunately, because of the direction my windows face, I never had to worry much about privacy. As a result, after I became ill and started spending a lot of my time at home, it felt good to have a room where I was always exposed to natural light.

With the exception of overcast days that tend to sap my energy regardless of where I am, being in this room is usually the best place for me to spend my time. Spending so much time in my brightest room means it’s also where I make most of my phone and video calls. Because the room is so bright, I started getting complaints from a couple of the fussier people I know, whom I shall not name, about not being able to see me clearly during video calls because of glare on the screen. I tried to resolve the issue by moving to various seats around the room, but nothing I did seemed to satisfy them.

One of these fussy people – after becoming very frustrated about the visual quality of our video calls – took it upon himself to buy temporary blinds for my living room windows. His thinking is that they help reduce the glare, while not completely blocking out all of my natural light and, depending on what I decide later, they can easily be removed. Knowing my friend as I do, I did not put up a fight. I gave him my window’s measurements, he bought the blinds, he brought them to my home, and he installed them.

Now when we have our video calls, there is very little for him, or the other fussy person in my life to complain about; and I still benefit from the natural light that makes its way in through my windows.

 

InkTober 2017: Day 23 – Juicy

Of course oranges and orange juice to illustrate the prompt ‘juicy’, because there’s nothing better than a fresh-squeezed glass of orange juice. Unless it’s a fresh-squeezed glass of orange juice without pulp, which would definitely be better because I don’t like pulp in my juice. Pulp makes me feel like I have to chew my juice. I know that sounds ridiculous but it’s one of the many idiosyncrasies I’ve had with respect to food since I was a child. However, when I think of some of the odd habits some of my cousins had with respect to eating food, this is nothing.

One of my younger cousins had a combination of requirements when he ate a meal. First off, when foods were placed on his plate they weren’t supposed to touch each other. Even as he ate, he was mindful of making certain that none of the foods got too close to each other because if they did he wouldn’t eat them. The other thing is that he needed to keep everything near his meal clean, including his hands. Picture a four-year-old eating a juicy piece of chicken with his hands and upon finishing it holding his hands in the air so someone could wipe his hands clean before he continued eating. That happened all the time. I’m not sure how his parents coped with that habit, but it made babysitting him somewhat challenging.

By comparison, my cousin’s quirks make my no-pulp requirement seem like a non-issue. All the same, whether we like to admit it or not, I think we all have some issues when it comes to the foods we eat and how we eat them.