So Lester from Miami/next table turned 94 surrounded by his wife, two friends, and a large portion of duck a l’Orange. MMB served as a sort of tolerated paparazzo –rushing to the table and instructing him to take of his bib and smile. It will make a better picture!
We had given her the pep talk as we walked in: she was not actually invited to his party so she should not act like it. But God made introverts and extroverts and then he made the category my mother belongs to: the vampire extroverts-the ones that feed on human contact like those bats in Mexico feed on us. She simply can’t walk past a party. After she photographed the family, Lester made the fatal error of asking her for a kiss in honor of his birthday. From that point on M was off leash. She pulled out a move of Olympic level of difficulty: the mid distance laugh/lean. When she heard them laugh at something, she would lean over in the direction of their table and laugh. HAHAHAHA. It is very effective, because no one at the table knows who was talking to her; but they assume someone was. So her foot is in the door. Then of course she got their business card so she could send them a photograph of themselves and those poor ducks.
I have always felt that the Queen’s grill was filled with such nice people. They seem abnormally happy and solicitous of each other. And we figured out why that is: older people come on the QM2, and so we see only the marriages that have lasted; only people who still like each other would agree to come on an Atlantic crossing. (If you get in a fight you can’t go home). So the dining room is like some alien planet of married people holding chairs out for each other, and laughing at each other’s jokes. One of my favorites is my former paddle tennis partner Bill. He and his wife came on a crossing for their honeymoon; they had bunk beds and were below the water line, so no window. Then they flew home. That was it. Now he is in the Queens Grill because, as he said, I figured I should give her a proper crossing one of these days. Mrs. Bill looks at him adoringly. Oh BILL…
Thomas and I are seriously talking about taking this baby to Europe n December. Rough seas almost guaranteed. One of my favorite people on board is a very English public school type who wanders the deck in foul weather gear and a wool hat that says something like: Luctican Rugby 1908-2008 One hundred years. He claims to be in an inside facing cabin…very upper crusty cheapskate and/or the second son in land of primogeniture. Anyway he says his friend takes it almost exclusively in the winter because it is so empty: many people stay in their cabins due to seasickness or fear of falling over. He announces cheerfully that great deals are to be had! HT is encouraging us to do this. He has even taken to taunting by saying that we would probably be too scared. Oh once he was in his cabin in a huge storm and at 3 a.m. the loudspeaker goes on: Code Bravo Code Bravo (which is code for the shit hitting the fan. All hands on deck.) so he stays and listens to this until he hears the captains voice-out of breath from running in saying FALSE ALARM! Sorry. My bad. Then it goes off again: CODE BRAVO CODE BRAVO. Then the obvious sound of the captain stuffing a towel over the microphone. Can’t get it to stop any other way.
Told Thomas if there is a storm that big, I’m sleeping in front of HT’s cabin. In a dry suit.
This morning I had a genuine Queen Mary miracle. A Marycle. It was a glorious morning, sun shining, coffee in hand, strolling the decks. The only thing missing was some wildlife to look at, so I said God? Would it kill you to send a shark past? I have never seen a shark fin from the Queen Mary. I kid you not-I looked down one minute later and saw a small fin. I looked again and it was something small…then it jumped, then another one jumped: baby dolphins. Of course then I clasped my hands together in prayer and said:
God? I believe I asked for a SHARK!!!! (kidding, kidding don’t strike me down. ) But an evolved person would say that on the QM2 you don’t always get what you asked for; sometimes you get something better.
Dangerously close to land now: only one black tie and one informal night left.
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