Banner finished!
Posted by at 4:30 PM,
June 27, 2004
Hello from the high seas,
We're on our way to Reykjavik and it's my last day aboard the Esperanza while in transit. Honestly, I don't even like thinking about it. I really love being here.
It's a little strange living in a closed system like this. Nobody new arrives; nobody leaves. The things you see onboard don't change. We're all wandering around the same ship- individual lives parallel in time and place, intersecting again and again, by surprise and by design. An image springs to mind of Harry Potter's Marauder's Map, the one that shows the location of everyone within the castle at Hogwarts. The map is parchment, but the little figures move about the place like real time Pac-men in a video game. You're right about the mixed metaphor by the way.
-Marnee
This morning I headed out to the heli hanger to self-inflict some more banner related trauma. Where did all these people come from? I've been alone in banner hell for ten straight days and now all of a sudden, when the only thing left to do is paint the letters, there are volunteers everywhere. Where were you people when the sewing machine kept breaking? Or when I was trying to figure out how to install the grommets? Where were you when I was trying to cut a straight line 15 m long? Sure, now that the sun is shining and the temperature is warm, you've got some free time for letter painting. Well thanks for nothing! O.K., I admit, today was great. A bunch of us finished up the grommets, added the ropes, and painted the letters. We had a lot of fun and then spent the afternoon lying in the summer sun out on the heli pad. Thank you everyone for your help and excellent company!
One of the things I looked forward to the most about making this voyage was meeting the people in Greenpeace. Since I was young I've seen images of Greenpeace activists around the world fighting to be heard, defending my planet. I wanted to see them in person, to listen to their stories, to look in their eyes. Maybe I wanted to thank them. I bring this up because today I found Helena in our cabin and she was very upset about something that had happened. Everything is fine now, but when I saw the emotions in her beautiful face just then, I was moved to tears. I hated to see her this way, struggling with her decisions, and with the decisions of others. She possesses such a captivating spirit that you are drawn to her as if she has her own gravity field. She's caring and bright, fun and unpredictable, complicated and imperfect. Helena is Greenpeace.
-Marnee
