North by Northwest

March 27
Well, we went from hot summer to chilly spring—bam!—just like that. The northern Pacific is rockin’ and rollin.’ The last report from the bridge said we were experiencing 40mph headwinds and 15 ft. seas, but then they stopped giving updates when it got even worse. (Gloria, you wouldn’t like this AT ALL). It’s weird because just yesterday it was glorious—85 degrees and balmy with flat seas. We’re headed to Japan, then Korea, then China. After that we’ll be heading back south and I’m sure the warmer weather will return.

Since today is a sea day and I don’t have much to report, I’ll tell you about Tom and his “love stick.” In Chuuk, the courting of a wife was difficult, since they kept young men and women apart in most aspects of everyday life. So, the men came up with this idea of carving a long stick with their unique notches and designs and showing it to the woman they desired. She would memorize the shape of the stick and then in the night the man would come to her family’s hut and poke the stick through the thatch and tangle it in her hair. If she was interested, she’d sneak out of the hut to be with the man. Sometimes it didn’t work so well. It wasn’t unusual for the suitor to mistake the mother for the young woman (the women all have long hair and the family all slept together so things got kind of mixed up). That could be disaster—especially if Mom showed up outside! Anyway, we asked the taxi driver who told us about this quaint custom if they still use the love stick to “get the girl.” “Nah,” he said. “Now we got cell phones.”

March 28
Today was Palm Sunday. It’s only Saturday at home. They had a beautiful brunch this morning with ice sculptures and desserts that were works of art. The seas have calmed down quite a bit since yesterday because we have left the Philippine Sea and are now in the East China Sea where there are islands to block the huge rolling waves. Tomorrow we go through immigration into Nagasaki, Japan where we’ve been told we’ll get the “full meal deal”—including fingerprinting, retina scan, a photograph, and even thermal scanning of our entire body. The Japanese are going to make darn sure these cruising grandmas and grandpas aren’t packing heat. Some people are so put off by the whole rigmarole they aren’t getting off the ship. We are. We’re going to hoof it into the port area in the morning and then we’re taking in the Peace Park and the Atomic Bomb Memorial and Museum in the afternoon.

I’m going to only be able to post one photo per blog from now on. The upload on this wi-fi is so slow and fussy I’ve been burning through my minutes trying to post photos only to have the entire blog post kicked off before being published to the web. So—sadly, you’ll have to put up with more of my blah-blah and less of my visual talent (and Tom’s grinning mug). I’ll pick the “photo of the day” and put at least one picture on every post. Today’s photo is from our stop in Guam. It’s the gorgeous beach near Tumon.

I can’t tell you how much we miss you all. This is a grand adventure, but it’s darn lonely without our dear friends both at home and via Internet. Please feel free to leave a comment. It makes me feel connected to you all!