"What?" I groaned when Howard woke me and said we had to be ready at 8:30 in the morning to go to the Port of Houston for a boat tour! He had sat up late talking with our son Jamie on this first night of our visit and mentioned he'd like to do something like that, and it had been arranged! Well, I was sure all would oversleep in the morning, so I wasn't too concerned. How would we get two little ones and ourselves up, dressed and ready to leave by that time?
"We aren't really going on a boat tour this morning, are we?" I asked Jamie as I walked sleepily into the living room when I heard him up. When he said we were, I protested, "But it's so early!" to which he replied, "Well, you're up, aren't you?"
And to my surprise, I was, and feeling refreshed at that. "All I have to do for the girls is put them in the car," my SAHD son said, in his masculine way of parenting. I hurried my routine, saw him run a brush through their hair and we were on our way shortly, getting breakfast at the drive-through of Chick-Fil-A.
I was dreading an industrial-looking, unappealing waterfront, but after nearly an hour of interstate driving, wending our way through commercial and industrial areas, we at last turned off into a parklike setting with brick walkways, blooming trees with birds flitting through them and a brick-paved plaza. Lots of people, including kids on field trips this Spring break, were gathering in front of the tour boat. Turns out we got the last five seats on the vessel with a 50 passenger maximum.
What a pleasant surprise! The weather was Houston-warm-and-gorgeous, and the sky was blue with fluffy white clouds. We'd left the winter back in Oklahoma! The boat itself was very nice, with nautical wood paneled interior, comfortable padded benches and seats all around, and wide glass windows from which we could see the narrow deck and railing around the boat where some were walking or sightseeing. After a brief announcement of rules and safety regulations, all were allowed to go outside and to the front of the boat for a better view.
The great ships were impressive in their massiveness as they sat at the docks awaiting loading or unloading of their cargo! Names of foreign countries were emblazoned on their sides. Names like, ITALY, SWEDEN, ISRAEL, MEXICO, VENZUELA, and our own UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, all with their flags proudly flying. Several splendid gray liners--government ships, our son said, were manned by merchant marines and could be deployed with three days notice to any trouble spot in the world.
Now and then a sturdy little tugboat, rimmed with rubber tires for resilience, would pass us, ready for its work of nudging the big ships into position for docking, debarking or embarking. The word, TUG, was painted at strategic spots on the ships' hulls indicating contact points.
"Look, Anne-Marie," I exclaimed to my six-year-old grandddaughter, "a pelican!" She laughed when I taught her the rhyme, "A funny bird is the pelican, His beak can hold more than his belly can," doggrel by Ogden Nash. Gulls and other seabirds soared overhead, glistening in the spring sunshine.
Our jaunt was several miles long, taking 90 minutes for the round trip. We were informed that it was yet another 50 miles to the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico, but we felt like we had been sea borne all morning.
I thought of the Bible verses, "They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep," Psalm 107:23, 24.
And again, of the boats that were ever on the alert for a dispatch to anywhere in the world with only a three-day notice. Our angels are dispatched instantly when sent by God if we are in peril, "...sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation," Hebrews 1:14, and in Psalm 91:11, "For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all they ways." Kind of like the busy tugboats! I was so glad we had taken the cruise!
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