On board the Alaska Marine Highway

I didn’t know my Dad all that well.  He was mostly a quiet and reserved person, but I do remember on hot summer nights sitting in the screen house trying to pry something of himself out of him.  He died before I had any real success with that.  But thinking about my relationship with my own father, I find it fascinating to watch Henna and Noel’s relationship grow as mine with my Dad never did.  During the school year, life tends to move very fast…with homework, stress, the pressing elections news cycle, social media…blah blah…I usually see the two of them flitter around each other in their own orbits.  This is especially true as Henna is getting older and becoming more woman like every day.  I tend to be the middle person for them, without them even knowing it.  Don’t get me wrong, these two are the exactly same person.  They both love to discuss, argue, read and digest information leaving me behind them.  So, being four weeks in to our journey, it is so wonderful to see Noel and Henna just being with each other and not in need of me to forge that bridge between them.  They are great friends I would say at this point in the trip.  Listening to them talk, chat, argue, debate, skip rocks, jump into all cold lakes, and just hang out makes my heart so very full and happy.  It tugs at my heart strings as I think of my Dad.  I may not have been given the same kind of relationship, but watching this one bloom and grow it enough for me in this life. 

Cold Water Club founders Noel and Henna at Auke Bay, Juneau