Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Don't pay the ferryman until he get's you to the otherside
To the experienced ferry rider the routine is straight forward. When boarding a long distance vessel, try to board as soon as possible, abandon your vehicle and pick out the choice seating arrangement before someone else claims them. Within the animal world this behaviour is characterized by urination. In more "civilized" animal behaviour it is symbolized by draping an inexpensive article of clothing on the desired object, like a comfy seat. I realize later in the voyage if the weather is favorable these "saved" seats may never be sat in. They are more like insurance for a rainy spell, so the traveler can come out of the cold and sit in a comfortable spot. I also wonder if it used by those travelers who value their elbow room and chose not to sit next to anyone, just in case their knees might touch. I noticed that through-out the voyage only about 25% of these seats in the upper cabin section were actually being used.
We didn't know about this above code so we migrated towards the "hippie" section, the solarium in the rear (or should I say Stern) deck. The interesting part here is that there was large sections also saved in this section, however, here what the travelers had done is blown up their enormous air mattresses and covered it with their sleeping bags. The advantage here is that when the "1st class" passengers were wondering about looking for a spot to sit they took one look in this area and moved on. For us it looked homey and we plunked our stuff down on the plastic seats.
In reality we spent most of the day just outside of the solarium parked on the huge life jacket boxes. In my assessment this was the best spot on the ship, fresh air (did I mention that it really stunk in the solarium) and solitute to catch up on our reading and journaling.
There is so few spaces in our society where you can sit and read aloud a story. I think of a society in which embraces this concept, one that makes the time to sit and listen. I know reading ZMM aloud has changed my perspective, however I also know hearing a story is different. I have consciously decided to read this book aloud to Baxter because of the impact it has on a person. It is no longer a solitary activity but one of sharing.
We didn't know about this above code so we migrated towards the "hippie" section, the solarium in the rear (or should I say Stern) deck. The interesting part here is that there was large sections also saved in this section, however, here what the travelers had done is blown up their enormous air mattresses and covered it with their sleeping bags. The advantage here is that when the "1st class" passengers were wondering about looking for a spot to sit they took one look in this area and moved on. For us it looked homey and we plunked our stuff down on the plastic seats.
In reality we spent most of the day just outside of the solarium parked on the huge life jacket boxes. In my assessment this was the best spot on the ship, fresh air (did I mention that it really stunk in the solarium) and solitute to catch up on our reading and journaling.
There is so few spaces in our society where you can sit and read aloud a story. I think of a society in which embraces this concept, one that makes the time to sit and listen. I know reading ZMM aloud has changed my perspective, however I also know hearing a story is different. I have consciously decided to read this book aloud to Baxter because of the impact it has on a person. It is no longer a solitary activity but one of sharing.
# posted by bax or dad @ 10:03 AM 
