OTY: Due to some engine difficulties on another towboat, our boat had to assist. The barge needed to sit out the upstream trip, so two of us were left behind to guard the barge. We relished the hours of just doing nothing. The quiet was overwhelming. On board you get so used to the engine noise, that once removed from the boat you find the silence powerful. I was free to just take in my surroundings and live in the Huck Finn moment on our raft. The vast Alaskan wilderness under the expansive, clear sky provoked more than one thought on my purpose in being. My crewmate suggested I stop mumbling and sleep it off.

OTA: Michele took a day off from visiting the sites. She had the whole upper deck to herself as the Ayeyarwady slipped past. She had time to dream of life without illness and pain, where peace might be just around the bend in the river.