Flying Fish

I have turned out to be wrong about many aspects of this cruise. For instance, I thought I would be brave and energetic enough to stride off the ship at every port of call, exploring exotic locales and meeting exciting new people and buying lots of souvenirs probably made in China. Turns out I'm much wimpier than that.

But one thing I have been spectacularly right about. It is a total delight to just sit on the deck and watch the ocean go by. And today I saw flying fish! The first time, I wasn't sure what I was seeing -- it could have been a sheet of paper being blown across the waves, though where the paper could have come from remained problematic.

But the second one was clearly something winged, and it was moving into the wind. To find our present position, triangulate among Peru, New Zealand, and Baja California, in that huge empty space in the middle of the ginormous Pacific Ocean. The winged thing was pretty small and beating its wings fairly rapidly, so the chance that it was a bird was not great. But still, what do I know?

So when an officer (only normally handsome in this case) happened by, I stopped him and asked whether I could be seeing flying fish. He thought for a moment and said, "It would be difficult to see them from this height, but yes, you could be seeing flying fish."

And after that, I saw several more. They skim across the water like skipped stones except for when they kind of zoom above the waves, then they dive in, plop! and they're gone. You can't really look for them. You just zone out watching the ocean flow past the ship and every once in a while this glittery winged being flits across the scene.

It is conceivable that after four months, ocean watching, with or without flying fish, will lose its charm. But only barely conceivable.