The morning broke fine with soon verified rumors of a sunrise green flash… a rare event, indeed, one that requires patience, determination and more than a little stubbornness to experience!
As day follows night, a breeze blows from the west, against the bow of National Geographic Explorer… a green flash behind us, a fresh breeze before us, the past and the future, a doorway really, change, the end of one thing and the beginning of another. The change does not happen fast, as we are on a ship at sea and the days are longer and for me, more thought-filled.
The morning is bright enough, although not sunny and the air is lively enough to carry not just the small, but the larger birds too. There are storm petrels and diving petrels and the very pretty Cape petrel, as well as various species of albatross, the black browed seems the most numerous. They follow us, circle us, stare at us as they drift near and say nothing then bank away, turn astern and start over again.
While the birds are mute, there is plenty to say on the ship, lectures, briefings, and meals are shared. We find that tomorrow will start early, most of us leaving the ship at Ushuaia and migrating north, but not before one last party, the Captain’s Farewell, amidst smiles, friendly conversations, and libations. A nice way to cross the threshold between ‘the voyage’ and tomorrow, one day at a time, full days, new days, horizon by horizon, like a ship at sea.
