December 10, 2016 - Atlanticity

We are very much in the Atlantic today. No land in sight at all today, but quite a few ships. A typical sea day involving doing nothing and being surprised when it is suddenly dinner time. It's been just a little rough; really not bad, as long as you don't have to wear high heels (see below). Instead of going to the lecture on water (really) (wait, really?) I went to the Knitters and Knitters group and sort of zoned out on cross-stitch. I finished a book and resumed the book for the book club, "Your Heart Is a Muscle the Size of a Fist". I didn't like the first few chapters, but it is getting a little better. Before dinner we had two shows. The first was a (different than the other night) show by Sean Alexander, The Confusionist. He is good. I can't figure out how he does what he does, but I would NOT want to play poker with him.  The second show was a musical performance by E Sarah Carter, "the fabulous funky fiddler, Star of Lord of the Dance." She was good, too. She came out in a black and gold cat suit and gold shoes with 4-inch heels and she played Irish music and predictable popular songs ("The Devil Went Down to Georgia") and she even played standing on her head. Towards the end she was doing some kind of a little leap and the ship lurched and her heels slipped and she fell, but she made it look like she meant to do that. After dinner we went to listen to The Piano Stylings of Jere Ring in the lounge. He is very entertaining although his music is more aimed at people slightly older than us. He told a very funny story about his participation in the crew drill the previous day. He had never done a drill before, and he didn't know what to expect. He was told to "Pass Out on Deck 7 Forward."  So he did. The medical people didn't recognize him because he had only been on the ship a few days and took him for a real passenger who had really passed out. He played the role through a stretcher trip to the medical center, a blood draw, and an IV. They wanted to do an EKG and he finally said something and the medical staff just cracked up because they had not known he was part of the drill. Funny, funny.  One by one the guest performers all appeared in the lounge to sit and listen to Jere play - Brenda, Sean and E Sarah. They would all be getting off in the morning and they were relaxed and enjoying the free time. Only on a small ship. Love it.