Wild Smacks

SMACK of JELLIES.

Where Holgate Glacier meets the sea

Our Kenai Fjords Tour captain had been wooing us with comments like, "Wowser! A breaching whale! I can count on one hand the number of breaches I've seen this summer; you all are super lucky," and "we usually only stay at the glacier for 1/2 an hour, but it's being so active today, we stayed for 45 minutes; what a day!" Having been a naturalist, a teacher and a parent, I know verbal magic when I hear it. Little comments that boost the audience, make them feel special, like the goddess of serendipity smiled down from her perch among the clouds on this one day. 

Now don't get me wrong. It was super cool to see a whale breach next to our boat... and it was absolutely mesmerizing to patiently wait and ultimately watch bus-sized chunks of ice cascade down the face of the tidewater glacier and make an enormous splash, followed seconds later by the sound wave "boom." But I was dubious of our Captain's claims regarding the rarity of it all - guide hocus-pocus at its finest. Until...

Okay folks. We've seen some incredible thing today, but this is likely the best. Very unusual. Let's see if we can get closer.

I spy a pale green patch...

Ahead of us was a pale green patch in the otherwise dark blue ocean. A "smack" of jellyfish, he said. tens of thousands of jellies, all congregated in this one spot. We craned out necks over the rails, trying to make sense of the green, hoping to see a round bell or a long tentacle or something. And then another boat came along and stirred up the water. Suddenly the ocean was like a boiling sea jelly soup. It was the kind of sight that makes you smile and even chuckle out loud, it's so odd and beautiful at the same time.

Smack!

I considered myself officially wooed.

SMACK DOWN. 

I'm sleeping.

Sleeping cozy and warm.

Sleeping cozy and warm in a puffy down sleeping bag.

Sleeping cozy and warm in a puffy down sleeping bag nestled nose to nose with my little one.

SMACK-CLANG-TWANG-Riiiiiiip

"Mama? What was that?"

"I don't know."

"Are we safe?"

"I think so..."

"What was that noise??"

"I'm not sure... it sounded like something striking metal..." 

"Mama look! There's a rip in our tent!"  

Looking out from inside the tent

Where's the bear spray? Fuck. Left it on the bike. Holy shit. That was less than a foot from my head. Why? Is it still there? What is it after? Doesn't matter. What should we do? Need to get out of the tent.

"Mama? Are we going to die?

"No."

"I want to go home. I want to go home now."

"Come with me..." 

View from outside

We slip on our boots and slowly unzip the rain fly of our tent. No bear in sight. We hustle over to our friend's tent where he is asleep with his kids. 

"Steve? STEVE. Please wake up and come out."

We explain what we heard and show him the slashed tent. He and I both un-attach our bear spray cans from the water bottle holders of our bikes.

"Mama? I want to sleep in the van."

"Smart one."

We wake again a few hours later and stiffly emerge from the van. Steve hands me a coffee and apologizes that he accidentally bought half and half that is fat-free. My first smile. I take it and start sipping. He makes all the kids pancakes with fresh strawberries. The sun comes out. It's an absolutely gorgeous day.

I'm standing.
Standing in the glorious sun.
Standing in the glorious sun by a glacial stream.
Standing in the glorious sun by a glacial stream hand in hand with my little one.

True appreciation