Along For the Ride
Sleep is important. The older I get the more I realize this. I got almost zero sleep last night and, as a result, suffered greatly today at work. I pretty much accomplished today what could’ve been done in two hours or less, which is why I decided to give up with fifteen minutes left at work and write a blog entry instead.
I’ve been getting more and more sentimental in my reporting. I feel as if I’m retreating from the line of newspaper reporting more and more each week. One story I’ve written for next week’s paper lent room for this retreat – I reported on a woman who is getting two books published, both of which mention Wrangell either in breath or length. She and her husband actually lived here for two years as part of their six year journey living aboard their boat, Cabaret, which spanned 25,000 miles from Oregon to Alaska, then harbor hopping down the length of the North American continent to Acapulco, onto Polynesia and Hawaii and then back to Oregon.
I phone interviewed her with a few prepared questions, but it was one of those phone interviews where the interviewee was thirsty to talk. She went on and on about her love for Southeast and Alaska and expressed her extreme disappointment that I had been the person so far in Alaska that has taken an interest in her success. She really sounded sad about it, really.
When I asked what about Alaska and its people did she find so inspiring she answered, “There’s something about the isolation that is very comforting. I’m a person that when I see emptiness, I love it. I found that the emptiness and the beauty was just unparalleled, absolutely unparalleled. It was strikingly beautiful. The people in Wrangell at that time, I don’t know about nowadays, but they were so friendly. I could not have lived in a friendlier, more accepting town.”
But my favorite thing that she said was in reference to what inspired her and her husband to take the 25,000 mile boat journey: “…very, very impulsive. We did not ever start off to sail around and do a 25,000 mile trip. A madness got hold of us, a craziness, and we just sort of went along for the ride.”
There is not a better response in the world than that.
Oh, this writer and her husband had never sailed before their journey.
I’ve been getting more and more sentimental in my reporting. I feel as if I’m retreating from the line of newspaper reporting more and more each week. One story I’ve written for next week’s paper lent room for this retreat – I reported on a woman who is getting two books published, both of which mention Wrangell either in breath or length. She and her husband actually lived here for two years as part of their six year journey living aboard their boat, Cabaret, which spanned 25,000 miles from Oregon to Alaska, then harbor hopping down the length of the North American continent to Acapulco, onto Polynesia and Hawaii and then back to Oregon.
I phone interviewed her with a few prepared questions, but it was one of those phone interviews where the interviewee was thirsty to talk. She went on and on about her love for Southeast and Alaska and expressed her extreme disappointment that I had been the person so far in Alaska that has taken an interest in her success. She really sounded sad about it, really.
When I asked what about Alaska and its people did she find so inspiring she answered, “There’s something about the isolation that is very comforting. I’m a person that when I see emptiness, I love it. I found that the emptiness and the beauty was just unparalleled, absolutely unparalleled. It was strikingly beautiful. The people in Wrangell at that time, I don’t know about nowadays, but they were so friendly. I could not have lived in a friendlier, more accepting town.”
But my favorite thing that she said was in reference to what inspired her and her husband to take the 25,000 mile boat journey: “…very, very impulsive. We did not ever start off to sail around and do a 25,000 mile trip. A madness got hold of us, a craziness, and we just sort of went along for the ride.”
There is not a better response in the world than that.
Oh, this writer and her husband had never sailed before their journey.
posted by Siapiau | 5:08 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home