The prompt this morning is cataract.  Of course the obvious definition of the word is the eye condition.  I learned from reading another blog that cataract mean some sort of water fall or current.  But in my mind, I keep trying to make cataract mean boat.  And I am not sure why.  A google search did not confirm this definitively, so what I am assuming is that a cataract boat must be a type of boat used to go over a cataract in the water.

Anyway, it made me think of boats.  As a matter of fact, when I glanced up to look out my window for inspiration, I saw a couple boats – yacht type, fishing type, some sort hodge-podge put together, former tug, maybe seiner thing floating on the water.  Float planes were circling and an Alaska Airlines jet was coming in for a landing on the island across the narrows.  I am not kidding.  I took a picture.  If you don’t know, I live on an island in a fishing town in a rainy corner of Alaska.

Harbor watching on a gray morning. View from my deck.

Flight 67 making a landing

Boats.  We have the notoriety of getting a million passengers a year who come on massive cruise ships.  In fact the Norwegian Bliss is one of the biggest ships in the word…. I don’t remember the stats… something like 4,000 people got off of it.  Some days we might have five ships close to that size in town.  My advice?  Stay far, far away.  There is something about tourists that makes them think it is OK to stand in the middle of the road to get a picture of the tunnels or totems.  Yesterday there was literally a non ending stream of people passing in front of a parking lot, I finally had to nose my car into the opening and make eye contact until someone would stop so I could get in.

Tourists.  Actually, I enjoy them on a small scale.  Twice this year I have directed hikers to the Rainbird trail head, and NO it is not my backyard.  They are pretty grateful after wandering around our neighborhood – they want to get up into the woods!  (I think there is a misprinted map being passed out somewhere.. some Rick Steve’s sort of guide that is wrong, wrong, wrong.) A link to my beautiful hometown, KETCHIKAN

So cataract.  Eyes, waterfalls and now it has meanderingly prompted boats, planes and tourists.  I could write much more, perhaps another day.  I have to pack.  I am off to Ashland for my Shakespeare fix, then some down time on the coast at my beloved Cannon Beach, where I will put up my feet, soak up the family love and maybe read, definitely write, paint, cook and play on the beach.

A photo of the Norwegian Bliss that came across my FB feed – An amazing photo by photographer John Gussman.