Dearest Rachel –
Our last port of call before making our way to Vancouver and home, and the clouds are once again out and about, as per the more customary Alaskan weather. Likewise, Daniel’s mood seemed that much more… I wouldn’t say sullen, but he was understandably down. But who wouldn’t be, upon getting the news we have?
For my part, I was swimming a bit against the current myself in order to maintain a cheery demeanor. We’re traveling, darn it, and I wasn’t going to allow myself to be brought down until I absolutely had to, especially since we had this dispensation to go out and enjoy ourselves, just as the Teacher from the Ecclesiastes points out; it is the best thing we can do in life, at least humanly speaking.
That doesn’t mean I was all bright and chipper, although I had the advantage of having been awake several hours before Daniel, which may have partially contributed to the difference in mood. To be honest, the reason I was up so early was because my mind was already (or rather, yet again) working on the eulogy I was going to have to deliver at Dad’s funeral service; so yeah, I wouldn’t say I was in any bright and shiny mood either. This was specifically for the sake of the trip; if I couldn’t enjoy it because of circumstances outside of my control, I was just going to have to “fake it ‘til I make it,” and hope that the cheer might rub off on Daniel as well.
Of course, having all this stuff on our minds affects our ability (or maybe, just my ability) to focus; we were a few steps out of the room before I realized I’d left my wallet behind (which is important, as we need to present a photo I.D. as well as our key card). Worse yet, it wasn’t until we were off the ship and onto the dock before I realized that I’d also neglected to pack our excursion tickets, and had to run back to our cabin to get it. Ironically, we weren’t the last ones aboard the coach, but it was close enough that, had he been with us, I’d hardly have blamed Dad for rolling his eyes and chuckling ruefully; he used to recollect (better than I could, in fact) about a few times when you, I and Daniel were among the last ones aboard the ship in a similar fashion. So with that having been said, I guess this sort of thing is appropriate in its own way.
Once aboard and on our way to Potlatch Totem Park, we could take things a little more easily. Granted, once we got there, there wasn’t a lot of time between our guide’s narration and our moving on to the next pole or lodge, but I did what I could to keep up with it. Eventually, it got to the point where I just started to film what he had to say, instead of trying to narrate the stories.
But I realize he was going quickly in order to accommodate us. After all, we were only in port for the morning, and those of us on this tour might want to catch a shuttle into town, so he had to wrap things up fast enough to allow us to do that. Believe me, his efforts were appreciated. Especially since we were among those wanting to check out the town in those remaining few hours as well.
We wandered through most of the portside downtown, past a full complement of ships, ranging from the Disney Wonder, the Virgin Brilliant Lady, the Siversea Silver Whisper, and the Queen Elizabeth herself; Daniel has been getting into the comparison of these various ships and lines, now that we’ve been encountering company on these last few stops. Personally, I’m more than content sticking with the lines we normally ride on – if nothing else, I would prefer to use companies whose traffic boosts our portfolio, but this trip hasn’t been bad, either.
The thing is, the downtown area within walking distance of our fellow ships is generally geared toward us excursionists. And while you might think of that as a good thing, it does give off a slightly artificial vibe, rather than any sense of realism. Not that I’d want to be hanging out in the real Creek Street of its heyday (even though I’m no longer in need of the Married Man’s Trail myself), but there’s a reason the Disney ship can unload here. The place is sanitized and turned into a high-end shopping area for the visitors. The natives can absolutely make a living here, but this is not a part of town they can live in, as a rule.
At least the totem park has an explanation for it being inhabited with replica poles; they’re expected to wear out and be returned to the earth over time, requiring a new pole to be erected every two or three generations to replace it (and, in theory, to add new stories to the family or tribal history). The park isn’t ‘lived in’ either, but it doesn’t pretend to be anymore. The town, however, feels like it’s built (or at least maintained) for the tourists, now. And again, this provides a living for the inhabitants, but not so much of a life. But it’s not as if we can get to those parts of town, anyway.
Now, I realize this is a Sunday, honey, and I apologize for this – and I even brought the workbook with your notes in it so I could keep up with the tradition – but I’m going to set them aside until next week (although given what day that is, I’ll probably have a separate letter for it as well. If nothing else, Daniel will be dealing with the same sort of issue that you used to when your birthday fell on a Sunday); and then there is everything having to do with saying goodbye to Dad, as well. I do have at least one more letter to put together for today, especially given the fact that we have one last quiet day at sea to do so, rather than running around in port, editing video footage and uploading it for your perusal. I hope you don’t mind to much – although I’d almost expect you’d be relieved to have a reprieve, in a way.
But it either case, I’d hope you’d continue to keep an eye on us, and wish us well. We’re going to need it.
Letters to Rachel 