Here is my arrival: It’s 7 am, there is a crying 8-year-old and a sleeping crew. It’s WAY earlier than the usual get up time, the kids have just had to say goodbye to one of their favorite people and I’m replacing her. Welcome Aboard! It seems fitting – why would this transition be easy… for anyone? After all, the very first thing I had to do was descend a straight vertical ladder off the dock down to the skiff…. with my backpack on. Hello Alaska! She doesn’t coddle you – it’s jump in full bore. I kind of like it.

So that takes me to this moment of arrival on the tender. My welcoming committee has gone back to bed and I’m sitting here on the stern of my new home for the next 2 weeks. It’s quiet – except for the occasional gull call and the hum of the engine. The sun is up, it’s rays, a stranger to me over the last 5 days, dance over the water and warm my face. Thank you for the comfort mother nature because I’m feeling a little unsettled now especially knowing I’m the substitute for the much loved Melody. Grief is normal, in fact it’s important, everyone grieves changes no matter the circumstance (don’t I know that -I’m having a little of my own grief in this transition!) still – it’s a little uneasy start to walk into a house of grieving as “the new girl”.

But…. kids are resilient. This truth comes home to me over and over again. Once everyone is up and we are having breakfast the kids are chatting me up, curious about the new person. I made the best impression when I pulled out the water balloons! A little backstory: when running a tender there are days when fishing is closed so there are no fish to buy. This gives time for working on the boat, catching up on sleep, hanging out, or in the case of this fun boat getting into a little mischief. This boat has a running water balloon war with another tender. Back in Kodiak I happened to learn about this war from the other tender. The captain was bragging a little that he had bought up ALL the water balloons available at any of the ports so the Chichagof was at his mercy for a supply. Immediately intrigued and interested in thwarting anyone’s plan who appeared over confident – I went to the store and bought a bunch of water balloons to bring to the boat! They were well received. I went from suspect to trustworthy!

So I’m here now and day 1 is great. New beginnings have that allure. There is the angst and the nerves as the lead in…. and then you are there IN the experience and those feelings are replaced with the wonder and excitement of new…. of hearing new jokes and stories as you are brought into this world of possibilities. Anything could happen. And so with the blink of an eye my reality changes and I step into my new life with eyes wide open.