A Day's Work.

Storing up for the sail.

We all work together. 

I am so glad to be here in Africa and am really pleased with the steward position I have in the ship's galley. Great people to work with, a busy atmosphere, numerous smells and many tiny tastes of food all throughout the day. But, with the preparing of so much food also comes the cleanup. And cleaning up, wherever you find it, can be a tedious task -- this ship is no exception. Nevertheless, we all pitch in, and surprisingly it's amazing how fast the galley can transform from disaster to spotlessness. 


When it came time to clean up after a long day of work I piled my arms high with smashed boxes. In hindsight, I should have made multiple smaller trips rather than those few horrific ones. But I was intent to finish as soon as possible. Any thought of calmness, or sense seemed far, far away from my mind. Confidently I set off down the first flight of stairs, nudging away the growing fear that my load was continuously "gaining weight". By the time I arrived at the gangway my courage and strength had waned drastically.
                                                                                                           All I had left was determination and pride, and so of course, I struggled onwards. It certainly didn't help having that large group of crew standing just outside the door, all curiously observing my plight as I made my way towards them. One of them kindly opened the door for me. Nevertheless, it was still quite a challenge getting both myself and my boxes out the door without mishap. A few of the most rebellious pieces escaped. Once outside, and with growing concern, I navigated past the crowd, gripped my armload of boxes tightly and started down the ever-lengthening gangway. 

It was a windy day. Very windy!! Recognizing this fact instantly the boxes billowed themselves out from my arms like giant sails. The resulting situation was me propelling down the gangway with great velocity, desperately clinging to my newfangled "sails". Nevertheless, though somewhat terrifying, the speed of descent was a blessing in disguise -- my arms were about ready to let both me and my load down, so, the faster I made it to the dumpster the better. 

It wasn't just the boxes causing trouble -- looking back, things were clearly headed downhill when my trusty apron started to turn on me, thrashing angrily for escape the moment I stepped outside. And then to end with, I knew I'd lost the plot completely when my faithful hat took flight. It went with all swiftness, sailing right off my head and speeding away towards the ocean... A sudden dash in the right direction, combined with a couple urgent grasps, and the hat was retrieved...  but, I knew the time had come to call it a day. :) 


"Seize life! Eat bread with gusto... Each day is God's gift. It's all you get in exchange For the hard work of staying alive. Make the most of each one! Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. And heartily!" Ecclesiastes 9.