Sunday, April 17: At Sea

I attended today the first of two lectures on the Panama Canal called, "A Man, A Plan, A Canal, Panama," which true to the nature of the lecturer who tries, somewhat unsuccessfully, to be cute, spells the same backward as foward. Having read David McCullough's "Path Between the Seas," I didn't learn much in the lecture that was new to me except for a couple of intersting facts: R. H. Macy of deparment store fame got his start selling supplies to miners going west for the Gold Rush (just as Nordstrom began selling shoes to miners on their way to the Yukon); and we weigh less at the equator because the bulge effect caused by the earth's spin places us further from its core and thus gravity is somewhat reduced. Maybe I should move to Brazil? When the railroad that preceeded the path of the Canal was built in 1855, it was the most expensive railroad project in the world and commanded the highest priced stock on the market, paying a 44% dividend. The word "malaria" came from the French for "bad air," which before it was found that mosquitoes carried the germ for malaria, was thought to be its cause. The lecture continues on the day after tomorrow.

Ted and Bill and I spent most of the day on deck where I met Susan, a widow from LA who sat down in the chaise next to mine. (The Silver Cloud has unfortunately replaced the old mahogany steamer chiars in which, wrapped in a plaid blanket, I always imagined myself as a character in "An Affair to Remember" and now has grey mesh chaises with aluminum frames, probably much easier to move around but very difficult to get out of. My knees! My knees!) Susan is very bright, had been "in fashion" and worked as head of a verson of the School for the Arts where she still serves on its board. She has a round face wreathed with a Juliet cap of very curly greying tight curls and wears small, round, tortoise-rimmed glasses reminiscent of Philip Johnson. We had lots to talk about, including the care of aging parents.

In the afternoon, we played Canasta where the tactics are different when playing by yourself instead of with a partner. Ted, who's played before and was only a little rusty, jumped ahead. The competition continues. I won the Silver Quiz again by correctly identifying 23 homonyms (?), two word pairs where the words sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings. "If four couples went out for dinner, you could say that.......eight ate." This foolishness is right up my intellectual alley. And that of a few others; there were three other winners. We decided to celebrate Ted's 60th birthday so made a reservation for La Terrezza for eight o'clock. We had pre-dinner drinks in the bar - Myra shook and Sir Francis served - and had a lovely Italian meal crowned by a chocolate mousse cake presented by Aldrin and all the restaurant staff with a rousting "Happy Birthday," sung in many different keys. When Bill and Ted returned to their suite, they found all the towel animals gathered for a party with lighted candles and many balloons. I guess our butler, Romeo, and our maid, Princess, don't have enough to do. Or they're just be especially nice.

Tomorrow is Puntarenas, Costa Rica.

Stay tuned.