Skip to main content

More life on board the Queen Mary

Another beautiful sunny day. Up on the 12th deck (top), we are sitting and watching the young families in the pool. There is quite a stiff breeze on the outside promenade but the wind isn’t all that cold so it is pleasant. We could go down to the 7th deck and sit on the deck chairs (choices, choices!) but this is very pleasant.

Last night when we were at the fancy dining room, our waiters asked us why we weren’t there the night before. When we said we didn’t have “gala” attire (dinner jackets for men and all) they insisted that as long as Richard wore his dark jacket and a tie he would be fine. So we will eat at the fancy dining room tonight after all (Cinderella WILL go the ball, hahahaha.) Our table companions are happy about that, I think they enjoy our company. The other family, the young British family with a small boy and girl, are pleased as well. I did see them all decked out on Monday night, he in his dinner jacket and black bow tie and she in a smart black cocktail dress. What a lovely family they are. He told us he had been working in San Diego for the past two and a a half years and now they were headed back to England. I have met so many interesting people, albeit briefly. There was the couple, she from Russia originally and he from the Ukraine, who told me about their lives over there and how thankful they were to be U.S. citizens. It had cost them thousands of dollars but they said it had been worth it compared to their lives in the former USSR. Puts things a bit into perspective. The Western world isn’t perfect and we need to keep working to make it more just, more equitable for all people, but compared to so much of the world, we have a freedom that other people only dream about. I still look around at all the people on board and wonder, why me? Why did I luck out like this? Of course it wasn’t all luck, it was my grandparents’, my parents’ hard work, and mine too. And Richard’s of course. 

Still though we were born with advantages, Richard and I. Opportunities, the color of our skin unfortunately, were all there for us to take advantage of.

And such are my musings on this Wednesday morning at sea. Being thankful for what I have but humble too. As the former Royal correspondent for ITV said yesterday in his lecture, why me? But being glad and thankful to be me. And especially on this day, remembering my amnesia spell last month that landed me in the hospital, being VERY glad to be here!!




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

January 2024 and blogging

  I haven't posted on my blog for a long time. Partly that was due to not knowing what to write about and partly it was wondering if I wanted to put myself "out there" anymore. And in what way. I subscribe to a few blogs on Substack, which is a subscription-based blog. You can pay to have your own blog, you can pay for someone else's blog, and that means you get to write and post and get comments back from a whole lot of people. You can comment on other people's blogs--if you pay--or else you can just read the blog and not pay. Of course you might miss some of the "pay only" content--much like modern news media has teaser stuff but to read the whole article, you have to pay for a subscription. The Substack blogs cover all kinds of topics and there are a few "professional" writers--meaning they're journalists and writers who have published and been paid larger bucks than the $5 a month they get per subscription on Substack--but I think most
12 comments
Read more

It’s just another day

  Yesterday was the final day of my 8-day assignment in a 4th grade class; I’ve written something about that assignment in a previous post, “Revolt of the Guinea Pig,” It’s been a challenging 8 days which, as Dickens might have said, brought out the best in me and probably the worst in me as well. But yesterday morning I had that experience that every teacher dreads—shelter in place, also known as possible shooter situation. I had arrived at the school at 7:20 thinking how wonderful it was that our heat had broken a bit. The skies were overcast, we’d had rain the day before, there was a cool breeze. As I walked to my classroom (photos below of what the buildings look like), I waved to the students already gathered on the other side of the gate, who were waiting to rush in, some to the cafeteria for their breakfast, some to the playground to run and hopefully get some of that energy out before the bell rang at 7:55. I unlocked the outside door to our building, walked down the corridor t
2 comments
Read more

And now for something a little different from the substitute teaching lens

  I subbed for my daughter yesterday. I wasn’t sure how I’d cope as I am still somewhat jet lagged but she has a very well behaved fifth grade class: they’re respectful, good humored (most of the time) and willing to learn (most of the time). She warned me the night before that there had been some “issues” this week—kids fighting on the playground, some backtalk in class from a boy who’s normally a very hard worker. With that in mind, I started off my day in the classroom addressing this up front. “I hear it’s been a tough week,” I said and then waited for a response. Some shifting in the chair, some rolling of the eyes, a couple of “Yeah, it really has” emanated from the kiddos. I then sat on the corner of my desk and talked about how I remembered being their age, the emotions, how things seem so very important, so very “raw” in the moment. I shared with them how my own teachers reacted to misbehaviors, after-school detention (Wow, Mrs A, AFTER school? They could DO that?) But then I
1 comment
Read more