All Aboard the Channel Surf
Many people have memories come to them in various ways. A sound, a song, or a colour. Scent is a big memory maker; a cologne, a cleaning product, apple pie etc. I must admit that when I smell a certain type of furniture polish I am whisked back in time to the end of year clean up in grade school when we would clean our violins to prepare them for summer storage. However, as I travel around the Alaskan wilderness once again aboard this luxury liner, it is not the smell of sea air or the sound of crashing waves that jogs my memory bank, it is the sound of a television theme song that makes me think of friends I have met along the way.
It is two strong beats on some sort of metallic instrument that not only signifies another episode of Law & Order is about to begin on TNT, but I am quickly taken back to my first contract in Alaska when my friend Scott & I would spend far too much time glued to the screen awaiting the outcome of another fictional trial. That intro makes me hungry for a tuna pita, because that is what we would eat while watching back to back to back episodes of the Dick Wolf series, cheering on Jerry Orbach as he caught yet another punk thief on the streets of New York.
The music box like cascade of notes and Patrick Dempsey’s smile takes me back to the bottom bunk of 2821, my cabin that I shared with Amy. We sat holding a Corona and a bag of Doritos amazed at the complex and hilarious lives of interns trying to make it through another day. I have never bonded with another girl like I did with Amy, not to mention Meredith and Izzie. Short of a stethoscope, we were one with that group.
Most importantly, while it doesn’t happen often, an operatic chorus will echo through the crew mess as ESPN is turned on. I can’t make out any of the words the choir melodically shouts except the final two… “The Champions”. I am then sitting beside my darling husband, cheering on the Red Devils on any one of the various ships we have sailed on together. I, cheering on Giggs, the only player I really know, and he, holding some sort of beer in one hand and hope in his eyes that his team will once again soar to victory. While I admit I don’t know a lot about the sport, knowing that a few times a month I can share in celebrating a win or console a loss (however infrequently that happens!) with my husband makes that particular theme special to me.
So for those of us who smell the autumn leaves and remember our first days of school, or see an ocean so blue it reminds us of our loved ones eyes, I cherish the moments that satellite television bring me a few reminders of some people in my life that without them, it wouldn’t be the same.
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