TRIP 'n' DAISY

Bright psychedelic images flashed through my mind like an out-of-control kaleidoscope while Daisy and I were relaxing in the Hippie Hangout with a small group of friendly Greenlanders that were hitching a rid to our next destination—wish I knew where that was. Then, jumpin'-Jack-flash, the next thing I knew, the truck and trailer were parked on top of a gargantuan whale's back and we were surfing through the icy North Atlantic Ocean. Thankfully the sea is calm and as I gather my wits, although to be truthful, I’m witless at the time, I take in our surroundings but all I can see is water in every direction. Daisy is as astonished as me as she looks out the front window and casually declares, "Whatever. Icebergs, polar bears, why not trip out on a huge freakin’ whale! Not sure if it’s a male humpback whale but Daisy isn’t taking any chances, I notice she’s not bending over so much. Man! Don’t know what we’re smokin’ but this is some elite, el primo, first-class, high-in-the-sky stuff."

The thing about the sea, which really hits home; when all the land, everything a person is familiar with, like rocks and trees and bumble bees suddenly dips below the horizon and completely disappears, Earth no longer seems like the same planet anymore. It’s like you’re clinging to the outside of a gigantic watery bubble that’s alive and could burst at any moment. Like man, like you can feel it breathing; the mighty rollers going up and down with each gargantuan breath. If you've never felt small before, it's like becoming a mere speck, a mote on a flea, a pinprick on an atlas of the world or a mole on Jason Momoa’s backside, a very humbling experience. And, speaking of Jason Momoa, he truly is an aquaman, because he controlled this magnificent mammal of the fathomless deep and although our position on the whale’s tail looks precarious, it was anything but. We had a hard time talking with Jason because he blubbered like a fish out of water.

As wave after wave slithered across the whale's back like a gigantic sea serpent and splashed up against the trailer, splattering the front window with white foam, I'm totally mesmerized as I watch the effervescent bubbles pop and think to myself, wow, what a trip! This is so cool! I'd seen whales before, big whales too, but they were in the North Pacific when my buddies Winston Bushnell, George Hone and I sailed towards the Aleutian Islands on our way to the Northwest Passage aboard a little sailboat, Dove III (true story). However, now as I looked towards the behemoth's head, a tower of water shooting skyward out of its blowhole, higher than the Eiffel Tower, I had to admit I never before in my whole life seen such a Atlantean whale. It was one whale of a whale!

In this crazy imaginative world or uncontrollable visions where Daisy and I sometimes exist, I didn't think too much of it when Jason and the whale began singing like a couple of beautiful mermaids—that is—until more whales began emerging from the depths. Surrounded by a chorus of whales, the notes trippin' along the waves and echoing in the troughs, it wasn't until large schools of dolphins joined in that rhapsody of peace and love, which filled me to the core. Daisy was very familiar with their music selection because she suddenly stood up, and swaying to the motion of the whale and the beat of the splashing waves, began singing in a voice akin to Janice Joplin:

Oh Lord, won't you

Buy me a Mercedes Benz

My friends all drive Porsches

I must make amends...

The song choice seemed a little odd, but to an old hippie like me, it took me back to my younger days when my hair wasn't the colour of snow and I was able to leap a bar stool in a single bound, considered jumping off tall buildings too, because sometimes, depending on my mind's condition, I was certain I could fly, soar like an eagle. Lost in Daisy's melodic words, combined with the backup chorus of the ocean denizens and Jason Momoa’s manly voice, I closed my eyes and like a sea breeze, let my mind drift, when poof! I heard the slap of the whale's fluke hit the surface of the sea and then, before I knew it, our 2011 Dodge Ram truck and Hippie Hangout were somersaulting through the clear blue sky...cheers, eh!

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