July 4, 2010
By Giora Proskurowski
As a break from doing the science update I will shift gears slightly and reflect on shipboard life today. For whatever reason, it seemed that the ship's company was in a silly mood throughout the day. I blamed the heat all day for my general silliness. We are currently sailing with the wind, meaning that the apparent wind on deck is much less, and thus below decks is less well ventilated. Also, it is hotter, and the water temperature is warmer. But I think the real reason for the upbeat morning mood was the impending Fourth of July celebration, which commenced at 1415 hours. The theme, as dictated by the Central Committee for Planning (B watch members Jenan, Sarah W., and Marina), was "Americans on Parade".
The ship was rung up for swizzle at 1400, and the ship's company started to arrive in costume on the quarter deck soon after. Notable costumes included Jenan as Lady Liberty, Meg as an octopus (?), Sarah L. and Marina as Rosie the Riveters (Sarah's version being unbelievably spot on), Jake as The Boss (Bruce Springsteen), Emelia as a Thelma and Louise type, Captain Chris as an Uncle Sam's Army fanatic of U.S. Robot Soccer, Marilou as Betsy Ross, Matt as an American whaling seaman. I came as Rocky Balboa, and made everyone hum the theme song.
Before festivites officially began, Dylan made an announcement from the housetop about the U-S-A, ripping his formerly white t-shirt off to reveal a large "prison tattoo" of the flag. Marina and Sarah then properly kicked off the Fourth of July swizzle with the national anthem – the ships company standing facing aft at the flag on the backstay, which had been flying all day (atypical for us while at sea). Not surprisingly Marina and Sarah's rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner" was quite stirring, as they had been practicing for the past several days in the engine room – making pleasant ghostly melodies that crept into the aft cabin.
After the official start, Jake, Tyson, Marina, and Meg played "Born in the USA." This was followed by a highly competitive game of Cramer Cranium, featuring board drawing, charades or board drawing with closed eyes, and ending in the port team winning by a single clue. The costumed folk then paraded twice around the deck, with the non-costumed cheering from the quarterdeck. No candy was thrown, and there were no fireworks. Swizzle was served, with our youngest member, Dylan, tasting first to make sure it wasn't poisoned (Matt the whaler's idea), and a drop or two for Neptune. Snack came up, several shanty's were shantied by Captain Chris, and the swizzle slowly began to dissolve with A watch taking over the deck.
It was a very successful swizzle indeed.
