Written on 3.1.13.
My life flashed before my eyes this afternoon. As I boarded the Semaya One fast boat to Nusa Lembongan, I couldn't predict what might happen about an hour from that time. But during the journey I dozed off into a sweaty slumber, in and out of dreams in the hot air of the cabin so thick with humidity you could swim through it. In one of those dreams I had a flash of a sinking boat and immediately started thinking of what action I would take if disaster struck. I was fading in and out of sleep with each crash of the boat down on another wave. The hull hit pretty hard on a few, but I faded off...until the one crack that woke us all. A wave had crashed over the bow and smashed in the two front windows of the captain's wheelhouse. Water came rushing in and a mild panic ensued amongst the crew and fifteen or so passengers. The boat was rocking and rolling still and again, another wave crashed over the bow, water rushing in. After one more wave came rushing in we were all standing in about a foot of water in the cabin, and the hull had significantly more water in it. The boat's ballast was way off and with a couple more rollers the boat nearly capsized as a result. An Indonesian woman who lives in Canada was screaming and she handed me her four year old saying, "Please, save my son, please." So I held him and tried to calm the mother who was near hysterics. We all had life jackets on at this point too, but many weren't even laced up properly. We all braced ourselves for the possibility of disaster and I phoned my parents, followed by a call to the boat company to tell them I was on one of their boats and it had taken on a significant amount of water. We were limping along as the crew of four or five guys were hard at work bailing water from the hull with buckets, clearly the bilge pump had failed after about twenty seconds of pumping. But all is well that ends well. The boys got the water bailed and the captain kept her afloat, and we motored all the way to Sanur. We only had one scare when the engines quit in sight of shore, adding to the unsettled feeling of the folks on board. But it must have just been electrical because they fired back up. So we cruised the next hour anticipating the end of the journey anxiously. I had a four year old Canadian Indonesian boy asleep on my lap, occasionally needing to comfort and reassure his mother until we reached the beach at Sanur.
This experience made me take a look at life and how fragile it is. It made me realize how great each day we have on earth is. I post it today because this morning I found out one of my best friends, Joe, who I work with Smokejumping, died this past weekend in an avalanche. He was an amazing person who lived everyday to the fullest. He was only 26 years young, but he had many lifetimes of experience. He was a sage, a wise man beyond his years. He was gifted at everything he did. He was an extremely talented athlete and an exceptional artist. He shined, overflowing with warmth, happiness and love. His energy was infectious and I value every minute I was fortunate enough to share with him. He was my Rookie Bro, he was a best friend, he was a brother. He will be deeply missed, but never forgotten. We shared some great times together. He only had a short time on this earth, but made the most of everyday. Joe told people how he felt about them, and wasn't afraid to say I love you. To all those reading this, I love you. Next time you feel like life isn't everything you want it to be, be thankful that you have a life, and go out and live it. Joe died doing what he loved doing. Never stop living like there is no tomorrow.
I'll see you all Stateside in a couple days.