Today I seriously appreciated being a grown-up

It was wierd, actually. Mostly I resent being a grown-up- so much to think about, so many details to everything, so much assumed knowledge that is inexplicably not included in any handbook, anywhere. Blah. But today I had a moment of shining, glorious appreciation of being a grown-up. I was sitting with my feet over the edge on the top deck of a three-level catamaran, watching a humpback whale push her weeks-old calf to the surface to breathe. I had a lap full of excited-overwrought-exhausted-ecstatic child (humming whale sounds to herself and yelling "BABY!" every time the surprisingly, impossibly adorable calf came up), and in my left hand I had an imported beer with a slice of lemon in it.

This is the shit that makes participating in capitalism worthwhile- moments of beautiful adventure available for purchase. Being able to share this with my niece, and do it with total confidence in her safety and comfort. I feel like a sell-out even saying it, but today cost a fuck of a lot of money, and every cent of it was well spent. For me, for my sister, for the kid- the limits of the world cracked right open and showed us more. It was beautiful.

If my conscience needed soothing (and it doesn't, not really- the reason I bother to turn up to work is to finance stuff like this) I could point out that the captain of the ship was female, and thus the adventure could be construed as all part of my plan to expose my niece to awesome women doing jobs that are thrilling to three-year-olds, but eh. Let's get real. It was just all about being on a boat, surrounded by water, looking at beautiful animals doing their thing. In a degree of human comfort that is only available for a price.