Home. I'm glad to be here, but that doesn't mean I didn't have fun while I was gone. We drove over 500 miles yesterday, much of it in a pouring rain, but that wasn't the fun part. We were on the Maasdam, a cruise ship of the Holland America line. Fun ship! We spent ten days island hopping down in the trade winds, then made a mad dash back to Norfolk from San Juan. The captain said we ran "wide open" for 2.5 days. The weather was kind to us, but the Atlantic gave us 36 hours of twelve foot swells to top off the fun. Cruise ships are well stabilized, but in heavy seas, they will pitch and roll a bit. It was actually kind of fun.

Let me paint you a mental picture. There I am in the "Crow's nest" lounge on deck 12 forward. That's two decks above the bridge, so I have a better view than the captain! And what a view! The sun is setting, painting broken clouds in sunset colors. The wind is blowing whitecaps off the wave tops, and flying fish are fluttering out of the bow wave.

Behind me, four Mexican gentlemen are playing music from the 50's. As the sun sets, I watch darkness move in to end a perfect day. But it's not really over. There is time left for dinner and a show.

Cruising is not for just for rich people anymore. Anybody with a computer can find last minute deals that include food, transportation, stateroom, and entertainment all for about the price of a hotel room with donut and coffee. Curise lines can offer all of this stuff cheaply, because so many passengers drink and gamble a lot. Those two activities are not included in the price. But food, music, shows, a gym, swimming pools and hot tubs are all included. There is a variety of food from fine dining to Mexican buffet.

OK, I admit that I gained four pounds, and about 25 points on my blood sugar level, but I'll get back to normal in a week. I suffered no sunburn, no motion sickness, and no starvation. I met interesting people, and visited beautiful islands, and I'm ready to go again. It all seems to compensate for all of those years in an un-airconditioned classroom.
How"12"ard