The Observing of Nothing

We rose early to see the sun rise.

A couple of bikes piled

against the fence on a one-way

A few helmets strewn

like goat skulls in the desert

A jacket with sleeves trailing

like the flag of a war-torn country.

We filed in silence down the gravel, and hung tightly

to the strip of exposed shoulder

of the mountain,

morning eyes unfixed

by undulating fog.

There was evergreen and pine

to seclude us from the road,

but their leaves lay waste

in the dampened overcast–without green–

but dimmed to the worn copper

of an abandoned penny

left out in the rain.

We were quiet in our anticipation

as we sat like gulls

with our knees tucked in,

Facing the vast white glades of ocean

that shattered and reformed

on the face of the rocks.

We had come to see the sunrise but

the only thing that blew light

into the lungs of day

was fog,

Which shrouded the world

in a surreal mask

of fine white paper and ash.

The horizon was blended

into the lost line of the ocean;

I felt the cold irony as

we stood and observed

no rise of day or sun itself;

But the same emptiness that had encompassed our eyes

not moments before

as we lay dreaming.

Out beyond the blurred sheets of

chalky-white residue,

there lay a sun

ablaze

in its emergence.

And here we sat, before its pale abashed frame,

without the eyes

to see past

and glimpse

 sweet morning fire.

Bar Harbor

I’m not sure how long it took to get from Nova Scotia to Bar Harbor. I think three.

Anyways, when we got to Bar Harbor, it was [of course] foggy.  The dock was very beautiful though. We didn’t anchor or dock, but we used a “mooring ball”  though.

A few people at a time, Ms. Lee [a mate and also the safety officer] took us to the dock  in Softy so we could “become Americans again” [get cleared by customs]. This is Softy:

 

Oh yes, and another development that I neglected to mention in my past few entries is that my hands had developed a highly painful, stinging rash that was very irritable. It looked like this:

 

 

Okay, if you cringed, then imagine how IIIII felt. And what is hard to believe is this was not it at it’s worse. Oh no, it got much worse. My fingers got all swollen. The painful red-ish bumps shifted around from red, to white, to a bright lilac purple. It was very disturbing.

Now, I will give you my journal entry. (I might make small modifications to add detail or take out personal information, by the way. Also the information might appear scattered and irrelevant but that is just the way my mind works so please be patient.)

(Bar Harbor, Tuesday.)

Yo yo yo diggidy.

It’s about 8:00 o’clock. I just finished watch.

Today I went to the ER for my horrible rash. They loaded me up with meds and gave me a shot of steroids. After that, the pain went away in my hands and the rash started to, very slowly, die down. The steroids made me feel all hyper and spastic and for a while my arms would shake.

After the ER I walked around downtown Bar Harbor with Libby and Jack. Jack had to come to the ER too because of an infected gash in his arm. Libby is the medical officer. She’s been very kind during this whole trip as I’ve filled up her med book with all of my medical disasters: seasickness, a bee sting, a splinter, a rash, etc…
Bar Harbor is cute. It is just like every other tourist town in Maine: tons of ice cream places, moose and lobster merchandise, “Life is good” T-shirts, etc. But for some reason Bar Harbor makes it homey. After a ton of misery and home sickness I actually felt good, just me and Jack and Libby, walking around downtown, making jokes, trying on ridiculous sunglasses.

Today I rode in a cab for the first time in my life. The first one was a tan van (haha. tan van.) The door on the starboard side wouldn’t close. (Haha, like my terminology?) It smelled so thickly of smoke that I could barely breathe, and me and Jack just looked at each other and grinned because it was so stereotypical. The second one was a red car. The man drove super fast and blared really loud music and me and Jack danced because it was funny.

BRB, gotta go make some food lists for when I get back.

Food

packaged oatmeal

fruit loops

five gum

Chipotle

 

Hey guys? Right now we’re headed to Hurricane Island and then after that….HOME!

Ok, I’ve got to go. I’m getting really seasick. Plus, I’m wiped. G’night ya’ll.