I’ve decided sailing and celebrating are an ideal combination. We don’t normally do a lot of either. In fact, we’ve only been on one other cruise and that was also a celebration (DH’s retirement). This past week we indulged in the luxury of outrageous pampering accompanied by entertainment, decadent meals and breathtaking scenery as we celebrated our 50th anniversary on board a Celebrity cruise ship bound for Alaska.
It was a writer’s delight of sights, sounds and smells. My favourite was the salty tang of sea air that whipped past me as I admired the ever-changing view from our balcony.
It competed with the iciness of air that flowed from the magnificent Hubbard Glacier, the largest tidewater glacier in North America.
Sparkling wave crests lit by diamonds of sunshine and a sky with clouds in every possible shade of purple, charcoal and silver flecked with ripples of wispy white had me snapping photos non stop.
Returning to reality can be a letdown, but it’s not half bad when you bring back enough memories to last another fifty years (hey, I’m still young at heart!) and inspire scenes and characters for several more novels!
Now that September is underway, what summer memories will spill over into your writing?
MUSINGS 
Breathtaking photos, Carol. I remember the sites as if it were yesterday. 1999. Too long.
50th Anniversary, eh? Wow. That’s a long time to know somebody. To live with them? I dunno. I’ve been living with me for 56, so I guess it’s plausible.
Glad you’re back.
My summer memories? Grandma moving in. Grandson taller than his dad. Hot, hot sun cooking my tired old body. Felt great. It was the summer I found the stillness, peace and quiet right in the middle of the busiest time on our lake.
Our oldest grandson is being married next weekend and for me that emphasizes the passing of time more than our years of marriage! It doesn’t seem like 50 years at all, and I certainly don’t feel old enough to have accumulated them, but I guess the calendar doesn’t lie. 🙂
Awesome photos, Carol. I’ve always wanted to go on an Alaskan cruise, and this just makes me want it more! And congratulations on your 50th anniversary.
While you were gone, I was nominated for the “Kreativ Blogger Award,” and I chose your blog as one that deserves to receive the award. If you’d like the badge that goes with it, you’ll find it on my blog post at: http://thewritingplace.wordpress.com/2009/09/04/my-kreativ-blogger-award-post/
Welcome back.
Carol
Between cruising and driving we’ve been to Alaska a few times and its wild beauty never loses its appeal. I highly recommend a visit. We’ve also had multiple trips to the Yukon and the Queen Charlotte Islands and love them, too. The wilderness just seems to tug at me.
I haven’t managed to catch up on all my blog reading yet, so I hadn’t seen your “Kreativ Blogger” nomination, Carol. Wow, thanks so much! I’ll check it out and respond as soon as I can.
Congratulations – 50 years – Wow! Great pictures too. I’ve heard great reviews of cruises to Alaska. Dunno if that’s for me – I get cranky when the temps dip below 80.(They’d more than likely toss me overboard.)
Summer memories spilling into my writing? Hmmmm… Sometimes I think too much of my life spills into my writing.
Thanks, Dave. Personally, I think it’s good if life spills over into what we write. We’ll have more of ourselves invested in our writing… maybe let the readers feel more intimately involved in our stories. 😉
As for temperatures in Alaska, except for when the ship was stationery right in front of the glacier, temperatures were pretty much the same in the various ports as they were at home. (Although I have to admit the north coast normally does get more rain than the south coast and you probably wouldn’t like those days very much.)
Those photos were breathtaking. I hope to see that in person myself someday.
These days I take my vacation for research for my writing. So naturally, spill-over is what I’m aiming for.
I return to the places I’m, writing about from memory. I go to re-capture the essence and feeling and hope to better my description of it.
Most of the settings for my novels aren’t far from where I live — near Vancouver, BC or in the interior of the province — so I can’t use travel as an excuse for research. We’ve always had an RV so the majority of our travelling vacations are camping trips that aren’t far from home. There are just very rare special trips like this one that are memorable.