A Bust

... evening falls at the back of the boat ...

May 12, 2013

I do not know what Greg and I were thinking. One of the Featured Events on the Celebrity TODAY paper was called Alaska Port and Shopping Guide Talk. “Get tips & tricks for the best shopping ashore from our Shopping Guide. Whether you’re looking for souvenirs, jewelry, or just browising, this is the talk for you”, the brochure said.

No, this was not the talk for Greg. Nor for me. A paper to fill out so that Peter Sorenson could become our Personal Port Shopping Guide. Call him at 8174, anytime, day or night and he will tell us where to buy the best diamonds, tanzanite or ammolite. And he will help us choose silver that is 925 or teach us how to pick up chocolate or cafe diamonds. How many of you would like a pair of free earrings for yourself? I did see Greg put his hand up slow, alongside his suit, so that only I could see. What a goof he is.

I went to hear the Blues Band at night, the timing right out of my comfort zone: 10:45 pm to 11:45 pm. Wyona sent me off to the Rendezy-Vous Lounge hollding a Coke in stemmed glass. I sat in the front room.

I did dance – probably the first time since Richard’s wedding. The guitarist put down his guitar, stepped onto the dance floor, said, come one, Alberta, let’s dance. A few rounds of the floor and a pirouette to which he said, “You have got the moves, baby.”

That made me laugh so hard. “I have to go back up on the stage. Do you want to come with me.”

I didn’t. The truth about the evening is that the music was so good that the dancing couples stopped to sit and listen. “Come on. Dance,” he called.

“We can’t. Your too good,” a woman called back. Since he was playing some Little Richard he said back to her, “You know Little Richard is not with us anymore. I played with him. He died from chicken. Too much friend chicken. We used to tell him, hang back on that stuff. But he couldn’t. Sometimes his fingers were so greasy that he would drop his instrument.

Oh yes. Nothing like a night of Blues on a cruise ship, unless it is a weekend of Roots and Blues.

Arta