a post I wrote for facebook, but did not post:

Blow up T-rex, I’m not excited about you.

While we’re on the subject of blowing things up, I’m not living the dream life, I am living life and waking up every day like everyone else. It’s a very good life, no doubt about it. I’m also not traveling the world. I’m working now. There are many continents I haven’t seen. And the traveling I’ve done has been largely deafeningly alone. So, no, not a world traveler.

If you want to travel, kids, you can. No more excuses. If you want to join the peace corps, do it dude. Move to Alaska? Maybe I can help. Meanwhile you probably have children who will carry on your legacy and make you proud and bury you some day and I have a cat. Sure kids aren’t easy but who held a gun to your head and made you have them? Or made you get married? Please stop comparing our lives and looking at me with wide-eyed bewilderment and say “you’re doing what I wish I would have done.” BLAH. You don’t go to bed alone every night or worry about dollars evaporating in your checking account.

But mostly, it’s that T-rex I’m tired of.

– – – – – – – – – – – –

Today was both sweet and short. We trained on “Give ‘Em The Pickle” about excellent customer service.

I tried to think about my own “pickle” quality that I bring to the table. I like to think it is empathy, personality and thoroughness, but I’m not sure if those are above and beyond so much as sufficient.

After several cups of Raven’s Brew, we set off to familiarize ourselves with the area and each have a turn on the mic.

Before you know it, we slowed down to see an orca! The whale began to bubble feed (new to me) and I watched the white circle get created like a lasso. My eyes were fixated on his figure. The whale is such a massive creature but Hollywood and Sea World have made the sightings feel so far away and distanced compared to what I grew up seeing. But this is more magical because it is respectful, and not engineered in any way. For the first time, I saw his “flukes” which are the triangular edges of his tale that flap into the air.

What amazed me most of all is how slow the whale moved. I’ve seen trained whales at Sea World that have to swim fast, on cue, and do prompted gestures and choreography. These whales seem slow, quiet, focused on catching something they don’t want to disturb. They seemed more like me in middle school- just trying to blend in so as not to seem like a whale.

I was grateful to A: be done with work at 2:45 and B: know about my first day off (Sunday). We’ve all been going without any end in sight and Saturday marks the twelfth day of training. I’m a tired puppy.

But, in lieu of what I did not post on facebook, it is truly remarkable that I am standing, working, on a boat in Southeast Alaska ogling at an orca whale. The magic of it is that an old friendship got me here. One last minute dinner date in Istanbul with someone I hadn’t seen in 8 years connected me to the opposite side of the world. That is magic. That is living the dream, I’d say.