On the ship last week, while we were heading north for 36 hours of ocean cruising up the coast of Canada and Alaska, I took a walk on the top deck, where the swimming pool was. A huge screen above the pool was playing Spitting Distance, a Red Bull Explorers episode about a team of volcanologists climbing into Benbow crater on Ambrym Island in the Republic of Vanuatu. I'll watch this during my COVID quarantine and think about when I hiked to Benbow's twin crater, Marum. I blogged about that adventure here. #

New header image is of the Mendenhall Glacier near Juneau, Alaska.#

I tested positive for COVID the same morning (yesterday) that President Biden tested positive. He says he has mild symptoms. I wish him the best. I, on the other hand, shivered in bed yesterday, my body aching, and my mind recalling how I felt when I had dengue fever during my Peace Corps service in Vanuatu. Today no aches or noticeable fever, and I'm at the stage of infection in which the virus has programmed my body to infect others: I'm sneezing and have a runny nose. I'm quarantined to the bedroom; Erin, who also tested positive and feels crappy, is spending most of her time in her office or down at her sister's house. #