Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Passage: Hawaii to Marshall Islands. Day 15


1-1-12  day 15  Hi to RMI
started off monday 12-31-12.  partway through the afternoon we passed the 180 degree meridian, the international date line, and it became tuesday 1-1-13 in an instant.  we effectively skipped new years.  just goes to show how all time references are shattered out here. your relationship to days of the week and dates of the month are meaningless.  your perception of time altered, sometimes stopped, sometimes heightened.  land time does not exist at sea.
it is surprisingly easy for us to isolate ourselves from one another out here.  you could be sitting right next to your bud, but your mind has been sucked into the ether.  it took a conscious effort to bring yourself back, and make some conversation or crack a joke, and those interactions ended up being huge for moral, something that needed regular maintenance, and a concept not yet revealed to me prior to this passage.
the best part of the day is sunset.  the most beautiful moments of my existence out here happen at sunset.  everything softens at this time.  the colors, the heat of the day, the ocean even seems to calm momentarily.  struggling with preparing food, drinking enough water, keeping your mind off the monotony and seemingly endless time in the middle of the ocean during the day.  a struggle to make it to the evening, when everything is right.  the stars come out.  360 degrees horizon to horizon stars.  i look to the right and see stars.  i look to the left and see stars.  i am between those stars.  i look up and see stars, i imagine stars below me.  i am surrounded by stars.  i am amidst stars.

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