The sun wasn’t up when we pulled into port this morning, for the first time since my bout of insomnia in Turkey years ago I found myself working before the first rays of dawn kissed the horizon. There is still something about sunrises that touches me, all peace and quiet and new beginnings.
These days my early mornings are something I treasure, since my days are so busy the first hour or so of my morning shift is my respite. The only time of day where no one bothers me (except occasionally Amras, who comes to check on me if he’s up early enough, which is rare for a musician) – and I can get my admin work and my reshelving done in peace.
Once the sun was full up in the sky it was a cue for everyone to start pouring into my office looking for everything from coffee to newspapers (which haven’t arrived yet) and my delicate morning peace breaks into the full-scale busy-ness of the rest of the day.
We’re pulling into the last stretch of ports before the crossing, which means my days are packed full just trying to keep up with the library admin. The first day out of this cruise my shelves were nearly empty, I have next to no best sellers left and they’re pillaging through fiction as quickly as I can keep it restocked. But hey, it keeps me out of trouble!
For those who aren’t already aware (and I think I’ve told most people back home by now) I’ve officially put in for a two week extension on this contract. There are a lot of reasons for this; money, as always is a factor, plus it’s been years since I’ve been able to do the chill-back Caribbean run (getting paid to basically lounge about in the sun and drink margaretias? Yes please!) and…I’m really happy here. I’m happier here than I’ve been on a contract in years and it basically comes down to I don’t want to go home. This is very rare for me at this late stage in a contract, I’ve usually been dying to go home at this point, but there’s something about this season that’s different. So yeah, pending official confirmation from Seattle (which means it could still go south) I’m staying till November 17th, at which point I’ll have a full month off before heading back to the craziness of the flagship.
In the meantime, I relish the moments of peace and quiet when they come, like the occasional sunrise out my office window and the sound of the birds waking up somewhere on the coast of Spain…