On Tuesday morning, our ship was moving slower as it headed east through the Aleutian islands toward Juneau. It was a beautiful morning - sunny with a few puffy clouds. I woke to the sound of our neighbor snoring quite loudly. I often wondered what it must have been like for anyone sharing that cabin. I hope they had ear protectors and that they finished this trip with their hearing still intact. By 8 o' clock, Philip and I were heading back to the Infirmary. This time I met Dr. Sebastian Campuzano and Nurse Katalin Bartha. Dr. Sebastian appeared to be the head of the unit as he was often referred to as "Boss." Nurse Katalin was known as KT. They gave me the antibiotic infusion and a blood test afterwards. The blood test showed that my infection was going down in one area but going up in another. This worried Dr. Sebastian. He was a young man and it was him who said "I hope you haven't waited too long."
What doctor says that to a patient?
Afterwards, Philip and I went to breakfast. It was a great morning to enjoy the weather and get some food before our arrival. Yet, still, I had no appetite. There was food everywhere on the ship but nothing appealed to me.
There were a lot of disabled folks on our ship and of course many of these folks were elderly. More than once, Philip almost got mowed down by a Rascal. Well, I am going to tell you about a moment of 'smallness' on my part. There was a woman eating breakfast on Deck 12. She was walking a fine line between super thin and totally frail. Her hair was almost gone and the only hair that she had left on her head served only to outline her skull - like a child's drawing. She was wearing big glasses and a metallic thing stuck out from above her ear. I took this to be a Cochlear Implant. She was talking to several friends at her table and beamed as she talked about all the whales she had seen earlier that morning - while I was with the doctor. According to her, there were whales on both sides of the ship. Then she went on about seeing eagles and the 'HUGE' rainbow at the back of the ship. I could see that she was so tickled to have witnessed such sites. And in that moment, I just stared at her and thought "I hate you!"
As the ship began to approach the city of Juneau - around 2PM - most of the passengers came out on the open decks to watch the ship dock and take in the view of Juneau. The temperature was around 70 degrees with just a small breeze in the air. Perfect.
We stood on the top deck and sea planes started flying in along side the many cruise ships in the harbor. Suddenly, thoughts of Maggie McConnell - pilot, and Dr.Joel Fleishman - characters from Northern Exposure - as they argued their way across the frozen north - Maggie with ultimate confidence and Joel, sure as the world that this flight would be his final day. I loved thinking of them and breathing the fresh air of this wondrous land.
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