Today, we were supposed to take ourselves to a vehicle we respond to and describe what our vehicle is like. We were to use metaphors to help us. We were to write a fantasy of using this vehicle to a spiritual place we would like to go.
Well although it is not 9 below as it was yesterday, the weather and lack of transportation did not allow me to go to the vehicle that I wanted to go to. In fact, the vehicle I have always had a love affair with does not even exist in Rochester anymore. My favorite one, at least as I have always remembered as a child is in Staten Island, NY. Although I have been on them in other places and especially while living in and touristing in parts of Canada. My fantasy vehicle is a ferry. I love the ferry. I think what I love most about the ferry is that once you have driven on it, you can then park, stop, walk around, and take in the view and appreciate all the beauty around you, the smell of the water, the breeze as it blows through your hair and against your skin. For me, they have always been like these very short cruises. They give me the part of the cruise that I like most, the water and the breeze and the time to relax and meditate without the parts of a cruise that I am not as crazy about. What I also love about ferries is that you can drive on and off them and then drive to your next destination, which for me would be a search for the next ferry. Or I have been known to spend hours just driving on and off the same ferry and just enjoying the ocean ride.
For me one of the most spiritual places I can be is the water. I had been looking forward to riding the ferry when it was in Rochester, but it was not here long enough for me to able to ride it.
The thing about ferries is not how big they are. I have been on one that only held three cars at a time, but the experience of them. There is something that I cannot quite explain about being on a ferry. It transports me to a place of peace.
My fantasy would be to have a hand-controlled minivan on which I could put my wheelchair and spend the summer driving around the country riding on every ferry in the United States. This would give me an opportunity to fully experience the richness, diversity, and beauty of our country and keep me on and near the water. Thinking about this, I stopped for a moment and learned there were over 200 ferries in the United States alone. Most of them on the eastern and southern seaboards. Some on the west as well. There are thirteen in New York State alone. That would be such an amazing vacation, just to drive all over the state doing nothing but being in search of the next ferry ride.
I think I like what the ferry represents metaphorically as well. It is that which carries you to your next destination. It is a time of respite and relaxation, but it is also, what carries you to where you are going next. It is that which facilitates the journey. It is what allows you to rest and give pause to what you have experienced, are experiencing, are witnessing. It is as if the Creator is carrying you, as if you are in the midst of the beauty and receiving a personal guide to all that has been created. It is as if it is ferrying you through a museum of fine arts, a private showing that allows you to breathe, see, and hear they mysteries and beauty and artistic creations of the Creator.
This is one fantasy, I would like to see become a reality in my life.