A Good Saturday

(written June 25th)

I love my weekend job. Reason: I get to take the boat out on whale watching tours. We had a great Saturday.

(taken from the whale report on the web):

June 23rd: The Island Explorer 3 found J-Pod foraging just south of False Bay.The Orca Whales were spread out over about one mile and were moving north. They changed direction and started heading south and we got some really nice looks at Blossom, J11. We also saw Ruffles, J1, further out and got the best looks at Samish with her offspring Riptide, Hy'shqa, and Suttles. Suttles was very playful with lots of tail-lobs and 2 great breaches!! We also got to see Harbor Seals, Harbor Porpoises, Rhinocerous Auklets, Pigeon Guillemots, Cormorants, and Bull Kelp!

I had a kid on Saturday- he must have been about 7 years old. He was on a trip with his two older brothers. He told me his whole story: After seeing the killer whales at Sea World in San Antonio about a year ago, he said his dream would be complete if he got to see them in the actual wild. His two brothers are both in law school and making good money so with their parents permission, they finally gave that dream to their little brother.

I had the speakers on loud enough to where the tourists could hear the orcas making their clicks and squeaks. I was at the controls when the kid came inside. He wanted to see what it was like and we got to talking. He just stood there quietly, listening to the sound of the orcas and that was when he asked me in the cutest, most innocent voice,

"What do you think they are saying?"I just smiled at him.

I didn't tell him what I thought. I told him what I knew. I told him that Ruffles was thinking of how great it is to be in the water and that he wouldn't want to be any place else. I told him that some of the young ones were laughing it up and having a great time. I told him that the orca, Suttles, wanted to give the boats something fun to see and so he did his breaches and had one heck of a time doing them.

The kid just looked at me and smiled and said, "Yeah that sounds cool. I want to believe that too." I smiled back at him.

I absolutely love my ability: To hear what animals are saying and thinking is just the best gift I could ask for.

The look on the boy's face was just priceless. Definately a moment to keep in my mind. To them what I say are just fun make believe stories but I know better. I've had adults come up and ask me the same question and I simply tell them. A lot of them are impressed by my "imagination".

Not only can I use my ability without any harm but at the same time I am giving people stories to take home with them. Could my life on this end be any greater?