Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Day 10: May 23 rd , at sea
Okay, where the hell are we? Because it sure isn't the Gulf of Alaska, the Mother of
Storms, a body of water that has more than once brought me to my knees before the por-
celain god. There was nothing but a gentle ocean swell beneath our feet. The sky was a
thin gray overhead but there was a line of bright high approaching out of the south. We
had picked up stowaways, two golden-crowned sparrows who were so fat Jan called them
“tennis balls with feet” and who hopped around the aft deck after the scraps of bread we
tossed them. They would abandon ship in Juneau. There was suspicion that they have
made this journey before.
At 8:45 a.m. in the Mid-Ocean Lounge anthropologist Jay Powell gave a lecture on the
Tlingit, except that the lecture is more a string of great stories of his experiences in his ad-
opted culture. Jay talked about how salmon and cedar are important parts of the Tlingit
culture, as well as status, made manifest by the potlatch, given by clans to increase their
status. Sometimes visiting chiefs will challenge the host chief to a grease-drinking contest,
a quart-sized ladleful at a time. “The dramatic thing is,” said Jay, “is that though you have
to get it down, you don't have to keep it down,” and the chiefs will spit the grease back up
into the fire, which of course blazes up in spectacular fashion. He wanted us to take three
things about the Tlingits with us from the lecture: that they are matrilineal, that their fam-
ily comes from clan, not blood, and that they are totemic. Me, I'm remembering the
grease-spitting fireworks.
That afternoon, with a pod of Dall porpoises off the starboard beam and three al-
batrosses off the stern, The Authors did their third performing bear trick of the cruise, a
panel discussion on humor in the detective novel, moderated by John. We packed the
house again, and people were actually laughing, which never happens during a discussion
of humor. That evening a real performer strutted out on the same stage, Janey Smith, a
cabaret singer doing a set she called “An Affectionate Look at Aggressive Ladies.” Janey
has been working the Universe Explorer for fifteen years (last year she brought her grand-
daughter on board) and she channelled everyone from Sophie Tucker to Shirley Devore,
not to mention the entire cast of “All That Jazz.” She's got a voice that can switch from a
light soprano to a sexy growl at the tip of a top hat. It was a privilege to be in the house
that evening.
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