Mark's Cafe Moi: Some afterthoughts on cruising (the ship kind)

Note the new name for my blog here at lgbtSr – Mark’s Cafe Moi. It’s got just a little more pizzazz than ‘Mark’s Blog.’ We returned Monday from our third cruise. Or maybe I should say my third cruise. Frank has been on many more. Cruising for me was like the thought of visiting Mexico – I wouldn’t have done it had I not done it! I lived in LA for 12 years and had no interest in going to Mexico, but many years later when I was working at this job in Manhattan I went to Mexico City for a conference and absolutely loved it. Likewise with cruising, it’s not something I would have ever done when I was single, but Frank introduced me to it and it’s become one of my favorite ways to vacation. I noticed yesterday, after two days back, that it still felt as if the ground beneath me was swaying. I hadn’t noticed it on the ship – it’s a constant rocking that becomes an under-the-surface sensation. It wasn’t until I was at my desk late Monday that I noticed that sense of rocking back and forth, as if my blood had become used to that slow steady sloshing. It’s going away now, but it was very pleasant while it lasted. I love being in the middle of the ocean. A water love all my life (though I’m not into swimming pools, I just love vast expanses of water, rivers and lakes), there is something deeply mystical about standing on a cabin balcony and seeing that you are surrounded by such an endless expanse of ocean that were you to slide beneath it, ship and all, you would be nothing more than a drop falling into a sea. You would vanish, just like that, and the ocean would roll over you as if you had never been there.

Neither one of us was willing to pay exorbitant roaming charges, so the phones, Blackberries, Droids were kept off the entire trip. Quite a revelation after a couple days of not checking email or updating any statuses. I paid for a block of wifi minutes so I could do a little blog posting, but it was more trouble that it was worth so that was kept to a minimum. I think the next time I might even leave my camera home and just experience the entire trip without disappearing into a camera lens. And you can meet some very wonderful people. Some dull ones, too, some aloof ones, such as the young couple sitting next to us for the 6 pm dinner setting. As luck had it, we were each at a table for two, not all at a table for four, so their indifference to us every night was something we could dismiss. Contrasted to the number of lovely people we met at lunch when we had shared seating in another dining room. Straight couples, one with a young teenage son, who enjoyed our company as much as we enjoyed theirs. And one gay couple we met at the LGBT gathering. There were many more gay people on the ship, but I can’t say they were friendly because we didn’t speak. I love cruising. I want to do one a year now, and take the next trip somewhere other than a Caribbean island. Nova Scotia sounds nice . . .

You can see all of my personal blogging at MadeMark.net.]]>