Remembering a typical day in Patagonia
27 March 2012
by Zia
(Zia catches up on writings about Patagonia--Ed.)
The sky is falling. Less and less of the rugged hills are visible as a haze descends over the inner slopes. Their tops shrouded and disappearing in a gray mist. Our world, the world Hekla is sitting in, is shrinking. It may be that at some point today, I'll look up and her windows will be covered by a dense opaque fog, an all white world. I am ready for a hazy day turned inward and introspective, a cloudy blanket thrown over us, a day spent entirely in comfortable pajamas. Jeff loves butter, honey, chocolate, and sweet jams. He scoops these out with his finger, and licks it when he thinks I'm not looking. It's one of those so human traits that is endearing, and only rarely do I get disgusted by finger scoop marks in the butter. I'm sure I have little endearing traits that annoy Jeff. We share this boat, all under roof 607 square feet of her, all day, everyday, 24/7 and we share the experience of traveling together the same. In spite of this, so far it's been a peaceful and freedom filled experience, but one never knows when Hekla may blow! I'm not certain that naming a boat after an active volcano was a good idea, even remotely, because as Jeff points out, he named Hekla after the British HMS Hecla captained by William Parry and not after the Icelandic volcano, Hekla. But I like to remind Jeff that the HMS Hecla was named after the Icelandic Hekla, so we are only one degree removed from an active volcano, and even though our mission statem ent painted on the floor on the port side reads, "Exploring the world from the Arctic to Zealandia with courage, heart and humor.", Jeff doesn't find this particular fact funny. I, however, am greatly amused by the possibility that underneath all the reason and excellent leadership lies a lurking natural disaster, most likely of the emotional kind. We are socked in now, another white sky morning with flat water and tiny ripples glistening and turning more sullen. The barometer has only gained two points since morning, from 1010 to 1012. Hekla's windows are covered by a fine filagree of silver dots. The surrounding hills are obscured by a thickening haze. I'm still wearing my pajamas. Some of our days in Patagonia are like this.