Today was another sunny, cloudy, sunny day on the windy decks of our ship.
Sitting on the sun lounger I listen to the waves breaking
across the ship’s bow and felt the steady reassuring hum of the ships five
engines that vibrate the metal of the promenade deck itself. In the distance
the sun shimmers on the rippling deep blue waves until it slips temporarily
behind a cloud. Moments later it reappears, as strong and bright as before. Cruising
along at 20 knots, the raging wind rocks the blue towels back and forth on the
empty loungers threatening to sweep them clean over the rails and far out to
sea.
To my right sit row upon row of pale white-skinned fellow
passengers, eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses that look unseeingly into the
middle distance. White thin wires run to their ears from the phones lying on
their laps, relaying presumably music or audiobooks or both. Heads are
generally protected by tipped caps.
Snatches of conversation drift my way on
the breeze.
“Thou better put thine lotion on Harold” spoke one caring
Northern lass “less ye be a beetroot by teatime.”
Listening to the conversations of others is something I
shamelessly do and on this cruise, the accents are predominantly from the North
of England, Liverpool, Manchester, Crewe and Hull. I just love the range of
accents and colloquialisms. “All right me chuck?”, “Can I help you mi-duck”, “You
aren’t half daft” to quote just a few.
I feel the heat on my naked bare arms and legs so I whip out
the sun lotion factor 50 and generously spread it on my limbs. The lotion glistens
on my skin before sinking into the freckled cells. The wind catches the upper left
corner of this page flapping it back and forth as I write.
