I’ve never been one to love traditional indigenous art, although, of course, I do love contemporary interpretations of ancestry. I have been stunned by the totem poles. Of course, having grown up going to the Museum of Natural History, I have seen a lot of totem poles in my life, but there is something about seeing them where they belong, rather than in that dark basement room of the museum (albeit an air-conditioned room, unlike much of that building) that has made me love them.
Not surprisingly, I think what I love is that each pole tells a story. It’s reminding me of the “Family Feud” episode of Northern Exposure, in which two clans (Raven & Bear) argue over a story told in/on a new totem pole. I can’t find the scene on YouTube, but you can watch the episode on Amazon Prime.
Because I had to get back to training for the races and to see more totem poles, this morning I ran over to Stanley Park. The path was fantastic, past sea planes, house boats and other boats, and then into the park. Today’s run was fantastic. I went faster than usual, which felt great. I have all of my runs planned during this vacation—a cruise to Alaska on the Crystal Serenity.
People make fun of cruises, but it is one of my favorite ways to travel because you move at a human speed, in a sense. You aren’t flying from one place to another. Instead, you are experiencing the distance between two places. I just love that.
Also, I don’t have to make a lot of decisions while on a ship. I spend my whole life thinking and making choices. With cruises, it’s a true vacation from the management part of my brain, so I can enjoy the imaginative part of my mind—I’m writing my novel.
On this cruise, we have three days at sea and three days in ports so lots of time to write—when I’m not working out or playing Spite & Malice with my dad. There are lots of YouTube videos on how to play this game, but none of them are right so I didn’t post any. The Raskin family has always loved card games and I grew up playing Spite & Malice and Michigan Rummy.
While at the airport during our 7-hour delay, my dad taught me how to play Gin Rummy with knocking, but after we played about 15 games, it was clear that I had misunderstood a key rule. This might be why he was beating me by 100 points.
It’s not going to be a long week at all.
yogadonna 
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