Flying Things.



The morning sunshine.



It's been far too long since I've updated this blog; faulty connections are my excuse, but for the most part reality remains quite the same around here. Yesterday we crossed over the equator in the four mile deep ocean with sea water as warm as bathwater (29C). Upon crossing the line we all felt the bump and the captain told us that it's all downhill from here. Haha, not really. In fact an incredible atmosphere of anticipation is surfacing as the days pass swiftly by, excitement among the crew is visibly rising. I think we're all ready to appreciate the land again and prayerfully start the mission this ship is all about. Nevertheless, no matter how hard I peer onto the horizon it remains the same, certainly no land anywhere in sight. Occasionally we pass ships, I saw one a few days ago in fact... just a pinpoint on the horizon, so small I lost sight of it a couple times!!! It was so, so far away!! A friendly sight all the same. 

Talking of friendly sights, flying fish. I met one the other week. I was out on the bow watching the waves when a very intriguing spectacle caught my attention. So intriguing in fact that I could barely believe my own eyes!!!!!!... There flying about ten inches above the waves was this tiny bird, looking very much like a hummingbird darting here and there. I immediately found myself in astounded disbelief, wondering how on earth this tiny little bird could be so far out in the ocean and apparently doing quite well. Quite well I thought, until to my horror and shock he flew lower and lower and all at once crashed ungracefully into a very steep and dangerous wave, at once vanishing into a white cloud of salty spray. I was almost ready to jump in for the grand rescue (jk) when thankfully a whole flock of  these curious 'birds' appeared. A few cautious questions later that day and I found to my delight that there really are such things as flying fish!! Now, I absolutely love looking out for them... sometimes one or two at a time and sometimes a fleet of fifty or more. Just incredible. Big ones, tiny ones. They always crash so ungracefully, sometimes the splash can be heard. Unfortunately, capturing on camera one of these fish has been most impossible, but here's a photo I found online that displays exactly what they look like. :)

I have just come in from being outside for the past couple hours. Pondering the beauty of the sun as it settled down and slipped silently from view. Such beauty I cannot begin to describe, and will never tire of. It was also a time spent praising God with music. I tried to join in with the others (I say 'tried' because the wind and I were at disagreeable odds as to who was going to play my flute).  Nevertheless, it was a lovely and blessed evening. As we were filling the air with notes, our attention was drawn to the waves. There in the distance was a large pod of bottlenose dolphins. Swimming south they must have seen us, or perhaps heard our music :) Whatever the case, all at once they changed direction and started flying (not really flying, only fish do that remember) in our direction. Jumping, flipping, gliding, spinning in the air, and racing with the waves. They came so close -- close enough for us to look straight down and see them smile, hear them laugh. Leaning over the railing we watched in fascination as they contented themselves with dancing and playing at the bow of the ship.

"And God said, 'Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.' So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems, and that moves about in it, acording to their kinds - And God saw that it was good!" Genesis 1:20-21