8 Sleeps to go: One girls quest to free Willies all over the world. ( Another Lib-ism :) )

Today I watched a movie.

Now that’s not such a surprise, given how much I love movies.

This movie however, really touched a chord.

It was called “Luna” and was along the lines of Free Willy, only was a dramatization of actual events that took place in a tiny principality near Nootka Sound in Alaska. Long story short, it is the story of an orca whale that got separated from its pod and claimed this particular bay as its home, interacting fearlessly with the human inhabitants and creating a tug of war between the fisheries dept and the local indigenous community, who felt that the orca was the returned spirit of their leader.

The inevitable David & Goliath struggle ensued with the end result being that the whale was left to live undisturbed in the inlet for the rest of its days.

Now seeing this movie when I am going to be sailing right past that inlet made it all the more fascinating. Observing the cultural influences on art and lifestyle was something I became as absorbed in as the story itself. Like embroidery to an already breathtaking visual tapestry.

I really cannot wait to submerge myself in this corner of the world that beguiles travelers from every speck on the globe. Its so vastly different from the dry continent I’ve spent my life in thus far, that it must surely be the most fitting first place for me to explore on the American continent.

But unlike in a movie, I will be able to feel it through every sense.

The excited tingle is really starting to build now.

I can’t wait.