You may have noticed from the pictures that my hair is 10 inches shorter than it was in the Southwest. One might conclude that I pulled it all out on the 9-hour cruise up the West Arm of Glacier Bay. Well, it wasn’t that bad, but let's just say CurlyTop had a very different experience aboard the 9-hour cruise than Tomcat.
Doodle is too little to see any wildlife. Occasionally, she saw an otter as it went floating by the boat but that was about it. Can you say bored? Can you say restless?
Finally, Grandma and I let her climb on the benches in her sock feet and hold onto the poles so she could swing, hang, climb, whatever. She wasn’t disturbing anyone – in fact, most people were impressed with her strength and agility. Moreover they understood our predicament and didn't seem to fault us. This was the ONLY way to keep her from running all over the boat, inside and out, upstairs and down.
Peanut and Little Man were also trying to earn their Junior Ranger Badges. Peanut was pretty focused, but wanted me to see every little thing she did in her work book. Little Man was all over the place -- upstairs with Italian Nicolas one minute and back downstairs with his new mate, Jack, from California the next. I could barely keep track of him! Then he'd sit for 2 minutes, needing me to help him with his workbook! It was moments like this that Doodle would slip from view and Grandma or I would dash about like crazed lunatics. Sure enough we'd discover her calmly climbing and/or hanging by the rails out on the deck oblivious to the imminent death awaiting her in the glacial sea below her.
I kept imagining the Lions Mane Jellyfish that lives down there in the 1400-foot deep glacier water, with its 6-foot wide jelly head and 30 feet long tentacles. Or, the Orca pods out in the shallower water. Can you say mommy nightmare? All the while, Tomcat was upstairs, behind the lens of his new kick-ass camera, catching every wildlife sighting available.
It was an impeccable day for critters – we saw nearly everything there was to see – even wolves! We missed black bear and moose and the whale sightings were few and at quite a distance. Still, we did see them! So every now and then Tomcat would venture downstairs with a face full of awe, kind of shake his head at me, and manage to bark a few orders, “Doodle! Get your feet off of that RIGHT NOW! Let go of that pole!” Then I’d jump in with defenses and he’d look at me in horror at the parent I'd become, “What are you thinking?” S U R V I V A L. He couldn’t possibly understand what I was going through below deck with our little ducklings and their cooped up energy. Thankfully, everyone else got it and gave me a lot of leeway.
Realizing how little I was seeing of the wildlife, he, at one point, felt a twinge of guilt. Then he quickly remembered that I’d done this same cruise a handful of times and had seen it all before. This is a very valid point indeed. Also, I truly wanted he and Grandma to see the best of Alaska. I was thrilled that the weather and animals were both cooperating for them. I'm not so sure Grandma had the time of her life and she bounced back and forth between the "upstairs and downstairs" of this cruise.
When Margerie Glacier came into view, I scooped up Doodle and forgot all about the hassles. It’s truly a magnificent glacier and I’ve been fortunate enough to witness its change over the years. We saw the largest calving I’ve ever seen, too – what a boom!
Back home, Green is creating these cool support videos for her friend who’s fighting cancer. Peanut and I each held up signs in front of the glacier that said, “You rock Shelley!” and “You can beat this Shelley!” while Tomcat videotaped us. Several people on deck joined in with our little chant and it was pretty special.
Still, Doodle and I should have stayed on land and combed the beach at Bartlett Cove or painted together out on the deck! Lesson learned I guess.
PS: Just wait until you see the shots Tomcat got from upstairs!
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