On May 13th, Friday the 13th
to be specific, a dark and ominous day we boarded our ship the Celebrity Summit
crossing our fingers and climbing the gangplank to our new temporary home,
reminding ourselves that we were 21st century passengers, our heads
not filled with superstition and nonsense but rather facts and knowledge, in
charge of our fate, not shanghaied, but willingly boarding the ship on this
adventure to Bermuda. As the ship slipped out of its dock in Bayonne. NJ, the
sky was thick with clouds but we punctured this thick fog disappearing from
sight. Our view was completely blinded as we sailed out of the harbor sliding
under the Verrazano Bridge.
Cruising along at a steady 22 nautical mph our
strong, white, sleek, steel stallion sliced through the Atlantic Ocean on its
way to our destination of Bermuda. The smoky gray skies of the morning gave way
to a blue-gray pattern as the sun burned a hole through the mist. Silvery Flying
Fish leapt through the air gliding over the water until gravity pulled them
down again ending their fun, diving back into the deep bluish purple water
speckled with white caps as the peaks and troughs glittered reflecting the sun.
Waves crashed noisily against the hull of the ship as it cleaved through the
ocean spraying mist towards the stern of
the ship. A waterspout spun wildly in the distance innocuously traveling across
the water unlike its malicious cousin the tornado. Occasionally flashes of
lightning lit up the horizon like the energy of one thousand nuclear power
plants, followed later by the sound of rumbling thunder catching up with the lightning.
The storms eventually passed as the sun came out and we cruised along through
endless Lapis Lazuli seas. No ships or whales could be seen except for the
occasional flying fish jumping out of the water to escape the largest predator
it had ever seen in its brief life. The blue of the ocean melted into the sky
on the horizon as white puffs of clouds sleepily drifted along. After a day and
a half at sea the beautiful coast of Bermuda came into view.
The day passed uneventfully and as nightfall
came to Bermuda the skies had clouded over again blocking the night sky and making
a viewing of the Bloody Red Full Moon Eclipse unlikely. A great crowd had
assembled on the upper deck to attend The Lunar Eclipse Party only to be
disappointed by the continual overcast skies. Neither planets nor bright
magnitude stars were able to pierce the thick clouds. Even the star of the show
the moon herself could not be seen in the thick fog. People were beginning to
filter away when far in the distance across the rolling fields of ocean a
slight wave formed then began to advance towards the ship. Over a few minutes
the breeze became stronger as the rolling wave of water crept along growing
incrementally taller and more voluminous in size. It had now become massive,
headed for the starboard side of the ship. Seagulls swirled above the ship
taking notice of the wave. Now the sea-green wall of water towered over the
ship like the KATSUSHIKA HOKUSAI woodcut THE GREAT WAVE OF KANAGAWA.
A
thunderous noise accompanied this wave like a lava flow or a huge tree crashing
on the deck. It hit the ship rocking the massive vessel like a cork bobbing in
a bottle. The wave washed across the deck turning the freshwater pool brackish
sliding steamer chairs across the deck and spraying the passengers with a
saltwater shower as passengers screamed, but held onto their drinks. Now their
attention turned to the animate beings that stood where the crest of the wave
had fallen. Neptune in all his glory, Trident in hand, along with Salicia his
consort and a school of beautiful mermaids, each very different at his feet.
The mermaids headed to the numerous security personnel who had arrived weaving
their spells and reducing the offices to entranced admirers dreaming of
nautical naughtiness.
“Wow what an entrance! Forget Johnny Carson, Alexander
the Great,Caesar or any of those other imposters,” said Neptune “Hey bartenders
I think you are serving watered down drinks! New drinks for everyone,”
announced Neptune laughing as he blamed the bartenders for his childish prank. The
bartenders now busied themselves producing massive quantities of Sea Breezes (vodka,
cranberry, grapefruit juice), Salty Dogs (Absolut pepper vodka, and grapefruit
juice), Deep Sea Martinis (gin, vermouth, Pernod and orange bitters), Port and Starboards
(grenadine and green creme de menthe), Little Dinghys (Captain Morgan spiced
rum, Malibu coconut rum, cranberry, pineapple and orange juice), along with
many other concoctions that I did not know the name of. Neptune sat down now
moving off to the side with his entourage dripping wet sitting in a steamer
chair near the ships railing and reclined with a cool drink and a platter of Hors
d’oeuvre. Neptune wore a great robe of sea foam green with occasional barnacles
and crabs encrusted on it that admitted a strong bouquet of fish combined with
ocean spray. His sail pass said Neptune in large letters and on his head, he
wore a crown made of various seashells interwoven with seaweed conforming his
thick gray hair to the sides of his face revealing thick hoary eyebrows and a Roman
nose descending to a thick gray beard that flowed down to his broad chest. His
eyes were a deep blue, mesmerizing and crystal clear seeming to contain the
secrets of the abyss within them. His consort was a beautiful woman dressed in
a blue gown Salicia was the nameplate she wore on a silver chain with Raven black
shiny locks that hung down braided at the ends with purple seaweed. Her eyes had
a similar mystical quality and she smiled as I approached.
“These are wonderful festivities,” said Neptune.
“Yes, but it would be much improved if the
skies had cleared and the moon made an appearance” I said.
“Oh I hadn’t noticed, I just came aboard after
a little surfing”, The God of the Seas uttered.
“Let me see what I can do about this cloudy
evening”, said the Sea God.
With that he pulled his long Trident from under
his beach towel and thrusting it up to the heavens. The staff sent a bolt of
lightning through the clouds striking Orion’s sword.
“That should wake him up!”, laughed Neptune.
A thunderous annoyed voice could be heard
saying, “What can I do for you Neptune?”
“Good evening Orion, I am sorry to disturb your
eternal hunt but could you do me a favor and ask your companion Serius to round
up these clouds and herd them out of the way, I am attending a Lunar Eclipse
Party and we need an unobstructed view?”
“Certainly my God it shall be done”, said
Orion.
Sirius the Dog Star who always trailed behind
Orion was summoned by the hunter and with his instructions he herded the clouds
over the horizon.
Now the planets stars and full moon came out in
all their glory, red, blue, green, yellow and white bright gleaming and
dazzling for all to see, the brilliant heavenly jewels appeared as if they were
displayed on a black velvet cloth. The people who had been exiting the deck now
returned, and just in the nick of time as the eclipse of the moon was beginning.
Neptune and Salicia applauded wildly ordering a Deep Sea Martini for Neptune
and a Sea Breeze for Salacia. Next Neptune stomped his Trident on the deck and
the band began to play, Fly me to the moon.
“You can’t beat that Frank Sinatra,” exclaimed
Neptune.
Neptune held up his glass toasting Cronus,”
Thank you Cronus for creating the Heavens and the Earth and to Orion and Serius
for clearing the night sky!”.
Salacia kept one eye on the party and the other
on the school of mermaids who were now swarming near Neptune sliding over the
rail of the ship one by one increasing their numbers out of curiosity for the
proceedings. All the partygoers applauded Neptune’s toast sipping their champagne
and mixed drinks. As the sun’s infrared light streamed around the edges of the
planet and this filtered light began to stain the brilliant white surface of
the moon a bloody coppery reddish hue like a spilt glass of port wine staining
the edge of a linen white napkin slowly invaded the fabric, creeping across the
surface of the moon until the satellite was completely inundated with its bloody
reddish hue oozing and dripping across the night sky, looking like a shiny
copper penny hanging in space. It was quite beautiful and Neptune and Salicia along
with the partygoers applauded wildly. I noticed at this point that both Neptune
and Salicia seemed a bit uncomfortable, appearing to be drying out and after
saying their goodbyes to the assembled crowd they disappeared in the blink of
an eye along with their entourage and we could hear them as they dove into the
water. This was a lunar eclipse that would not soon be forgotten
