21 December 2008

sleepless

Today we arrive and anchor at Port Said, to transit the canal early tomorrow
morning. I had the duty last night, and I got an alarm at 0125, and have been
up ever since. An odd alarm, in that it rang the horn in the engineroom, but
not the buzzer in my cabin. I awoke, and could just "feel" the alarm, though
you could barely hear it all the way on D deck. This is how it is when you have
the duty; you are in tune and on edge and restless.

Christmas will be spent in the Red Sea, but no matter. On a ship one day is as
the next. Everyone will greet me with a "Merry Christmas" that morning, and
they will mean it, but still, it will be meaningless.

But now it is time to work. And slug through the day in a tired daze and hope
to nap before I turn to tonight.

1 comment:

  1. that just feeling the alarm perfectly describes motherhood, and the constant awareness of one's littlies...
    merry xmas Jonathan! you're in a part of the world i'm yet to explore!
    lots of love from all of us here at bag end,
    megs

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