poetry on deck 6

David organized a poetry reading event tonight for Valentine's Day ("poetry, beauty, and love"). David is an English professor and he started the evening off by reading a sonnet he wrote to his wife Phoebe. David & Phoebe got married after only knowing each other 2 months -- 43 years ago! David teaches one of the travel writing classes that I wish I could take. He is recently retired from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. David's sonnet was very sweet and was followed by others reading poems they wrote -- some good, some less good, but we all yelled and clapped for everyone. Not a bad way to spend Valentine's day ... on deck 6 of the MV explorer crossing the equator ...

Even though we crossed the equator today and so it's officially Neptune Day, we're not actually celebrating for awhile yet. We'll celebrate it as a day off to break up the days at sea between Salvador and Cape Town. According to wikipedia:

Sailors who have already crossed the equator are nicknamed (Trusty) Shellbacks, often referred to as Sons of Neptune; those who have not are nicknamed (Slimy) Pollywogs. "King Neptune and his court" (usually including his first assistant Davy Jones and her Highness Amphitrite and often various dignitaries, who are all represented by the highest ranking seamen) officiate at the ceremony, during which the Pollywogs undergo a number of increasingly disgusting ordeals (wearing clothing inside out and backwards; crawling on hands and knees on nonskid-coated decks; being swatted with short lengths of firehose; being locked in stocks and pillories and pelted with mushy fruit; crawling through chutes and large tubs of rotting garbage; kissing the Royal Baby's belly coated with axle grease, hair chopping, etc), largely for the entertainment of the Shellbacks. Once the ceremony is complete, a Pollywog receives a certificate declaring his new status. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line-crossing_ceremony

I'll let you know what they do to us Pollwogs when the time comes ...

I realized today that my blog is still on eastern standard time. I had intended to change it as we moved around the world, but I have neglected to do so. Currently we are 3 hours ahead, or GMT-2.

Happy Valentine's-Neptune Day.