On day 25 of the cruise, we are finally organized, or as organized as we ever get. Our walkabout little red bag made it to us the evening of day 24 in the port of San Antonio, Chile, a port dedicated to St. Anthoney of Padua, a Franciscan frier. Anthony was not originally from Padua but from Portugal. He was shipwrecked off the Coast of Italy, having with him his most treasured psalter. Soon after he was rescued by fellow Franciscans there arose the need for a preacher. Normally there is a Dominican, a member of the preaching order, to fill the bill, but they were not available, so they said “let the new guy do it.” Anthony used his psalter and gave a dynamite (or it would have been dynamite if it had been invented) homily. So, he became the order’s designated preacher. The legend is that kept his preaching notes in the psalter, which was stolen by another Franciscan who then left the order. Having taken a vow of poverty Anthony could not afford another psalter. It was not only dynamite that had not been invented. In the 13th century there were no printing presses, so hand copied books were very dear. Anthony prayed for the return of his lost psalter. God heard his prayer and the renegade Franciscan frier was moved to return the book, and return himself to the order and re-take his vows. People realized that God really listened to Anthony when he needed his lost psalter so they figured, once he died, that they would having better luck asking Anthony to appeal to God than they would have directly. Hence the prayer “St. Anthony, St. Anthony, please look around, I have lost my, in this case, Little Red Suitcase and it must be found.” It was so I add “Thank you St. Anthony.”

While our little red suitcase doesn’t have anything essential for our life at sea, it was the bag that makes life at sea easier, especially on a long cruise. Admittedly I wish we had had our snorkels in the Caribbean, but that turned out not to be as important as we had planned because one of the planned snorkeling days we were confined to quarters. I would have liked to have my scale the first few weeks of the cruise to help me monitor my weight, but since I generally lose weight on a cruise it probably is not essential. And now that I have it I have to find the lithium battery, packed separately, to power it. That may be our shore excursion in our next port of call.

But storage on a long cruise can be a problem. The ship cabins are not built for voyages of 133 days. With the laundry plan there is enough room in the closets and under the bed for clothing. (While in the tropics a winter coat, gloves, wool socks and ear band can go into a suitcase under the bed. In the Antarctic or arctic you can swap the winter gear for shorts and sandals under the bed). However, the meds are a problem. Two people, times two glucosamine tablets times 133 days makes for one big bottle — or several smaller ones. Add to that vitamins, supplements, regular prescription meds (we are in our 70s) and the emergency meds “just in case” and where to put them becomes a challenge.

The red suitcase, aside from our snorkel masks and scale, contained all the hanging devices into which we organize our meds and supplements, the magnets with which we hang them from the ceiling or metal doors, and some decorations to make the room our own, maps, pictures, a door plaque that stops me from trying to open the wrong door in the corridor. In includes hooks to allow us to hang things in a convenient place.

So on day 25, a rocking and rolling sea day with heavy seas and force 6 winds, we (more correctly Suzi) organized. Three weeks in we are ready, and we still have more than 15 weeks to go.