Go Big Then Go Home

 I composed this blog post on an early morning flight from Calgary to Toronto. Usually, I write my reflections on the weekend but it was impossible to complete since my laptop was in Calgary and I was on a ship near Vancouver. I'm coming home. I just returned from my very first cruise, a wonderful trip to Alaska.

The theme for this contemplative essay leapt immediately to my mind after a few days of this travel experience. Before I explain, I need to thank my sister, Mary, for inviting me on this adventure. Alaska was not in my plans at all, but several months ago, my sister contacted me to ask if I might be interested in being her travel companion. Her hard working husband had just acquired a new job and was unable to go with her on this trip. She offered this proposal: if I was willing to get myself to Calgary, would I be interested in an all-expense-paid trip with her to Juneau? The dates worked for me, as they fell on the last week of August and I was still on summer vacation, so I happily agreed to go.

Everything was so BIG. I had never sailed on a cruise ship before. I was told that there are bigger vessels than the one I was on, but to my novice eyes, the Celebrity Solstice was massive! The line-up to check in and board was also huge, but it was very orderly and proceeded quite rapidly, considering that three separate ships were coordinating the boarding of their respective passengers on August 25 when we first set sail.

The meals on the ship were absolutely delicious and would satisfy the biggest appetites. The all-you-can-eat buffet at the Ocean View Café (on Deck 14) offered so many choices; yet, I was only able to eat a single plate for each meal. There were no second helpings for me because the first round filled me adequately. My sister and I ate at the Grand Epernay restaurant for dinner each night; this location had the advantage of reserved seating, which we appreciated because the buffet could get busy at peak hours. Once again, the meals were incredible. Shout-out goes to Rahul, our attentive waiter/server who took care of us so well.

There was a t-shirt I saw for sale that said something like, "If you thought Texas was big, you should see Alaska". This is true. Alaska is the largest US state in terms of land mass. We visited three cities in Alaska during our cruise: Icy Strait Point, Juneau, and Ketchikan. Even though there were many wonderful moments, there were three highlights I wanted to focus on for this blog post that loom large in my memory and are also enormous in their own rights.

Hubbard Glacier

On Wednesday, August 28, our at-sea destination was the Hubbard Glacier. You'd think seeing a big piece of ice wouldn't thrill, but it was incredible. The Hubbard Glacier is 7 miles wide, 76 miles long and 600 feet tall. It is North America's largest tidewater glacier. My sister had booked a room with a balcony, so we were able to witness this huge natural wonder from the comfort of our own cabin. 

My cell phone now contains dozens and dozens of photos of the glacier. At one point, a small piece of the glacier broke off. It sounded like a huge thunder clap. Our ship's captain should get a lot of credit for skillfully navigating us through the fog so we could get a clear view of the Hubbard Glacier.

Humpback Whales

My sister is an experienced traveler, so she booked two shore excursions for us. When we were in Juneau, she arranged for a luxury whale watching tour. Initially, I was a bit nervous about this portion of the trip. The last time I went whale watching was with my friend Denise Colby in Newfoundland and I was violently seasick. However, this time, I had no need to worry. The water in the north Pacific was calmer (as the name Pacific implies) than the choppy north Atlantic, and we were aboard a yacht with six other passengers and a capable crew consisting of Shannon the captain and Savannah the first mate. We saw SO many whales. Humpback whales are enormous. There's an art display of the actual size of the tail of one of the regular humpback whales seen in the area, and it is humongous. Not only did we see their backs and tails as they rose for air and descended to feed, we actually saw one rise out of the water. Photos are really difficult to capture. Our guides advised us to take video instead. One of our fellow explorers, Alan from Miami, shared these stills he captured.

I consider myself doubly lucky. The next day, as we went from Juneau to Ketchikan, I was quietly saying my rosary as I gazed out on the ocean. (It was part of my effort to reinvigorate and re-establish my spiritual routines, reactivated after my July visit to Fatima, Portugal.) Right in front of me, a humpback whale breached even higher than the one we saw on the whale watch. It was an incredible sight to behold and completely unexpected.

Alaska King Crab

While in Ketchikan, my sister and I enjoyed a lumberjack show and afterwards had a bite to eat at the Ketchikan Crab & Go. It was my first time eating Alaska King Crab. Readers of this blog will know that I like to eat crab (and my trip to Baltimore at the beginning of August proves this) but usually I eat Dungeness crab or east coast crab already assembled into crab cakes. Thank goodness I got the "kids portion" of the Alaska King Crab. My sister chose a single jumbo leg to eat and, as you can see by the photo below, it was incredibly large.

Ostensibly, this blog is about teaching and education. How do all these things link to learning? I can say that, for the first time in what seems like forever, I didn't have any "back to school" dreams like I usually do around this time. My mind was too preoccupied with this last hoorah of the summer, this incredible trip. I'd also suggest that, although bigger isn't always better, this (and other) extra-large experiences can really make an impression on our minds and hearts. I picked up a few things to use with my students to help integrate Indigenous knowledge more into my teaching practices. The impact of climate change is made so much more immediate when I learned from Milos, the resident science lecturer on the ship, that there are some other glaciers that no longer exist. Making a big impact can make lessons more "sticky" and memorable.

Today is Labor Day, the last day of summer vacation. Tomorrow is the first day of school. I really hope that this year will make a BIG, positive impression on the students I am honored to spend time with, and that year 28 of my teaching career will bring with it great joy.