I spent an hour today staring out to sea searching for signs of life. My hopes were to see an elephant, whale or dolphin. Interestingly, I saw exactly the same number of elephants as whales and dolphins.
I saw a booby!
Today we cross the equator.
Home feels half a world away. This is my reality. The ship dances to its own tune, sashaying across the waves in a gentle sway. The sun is searing. The sea is calm and peaceful. It feels like we are sailing into eternity. I have lost track of days. My life has been left behind. Time has ceased to exist. It feels unreal.
Today there will be a silly pantomime as we cross the equator. Someone will be ceremonially shaved. People will dress up. There will be stupidity and childishness as the god of the sea will be called upon to allow us safe passage. Nobody will take it seriously.
But not long ago it was as serious as can be. Neptune was real and if crossed could summon up a storm and suck everyone down to a watery grave. This calm sea could become a cauldron of terror. The ceremony was no game. Your life depended on it. Nobody treated it lightly.
How times change. How gods come and go. How fickle is man when confronted with eternity.
I’m afraid today is more of the same – sun, lectures, meals and leisure, reading, writing and watching in an unreality that has become normal. There is a peacefulness and contentment in drifting through the Sargasso.
Maybe today I will see an elephant?