2/25/16          Thursday     Boot Key/Marathon, FL

Second evening in suburbia. I'm okay with this - close quarters and the security of a mooring. And it IS supposed to blow tonight. Already we're swinging around a bit.

Over dinner, on board, David and I had a moment of panic when we realized the date, the face that a friend is performing on 2/27 in Key West, that that is 2 days away (!), which means we have  only two weeks and two days if we are really planning to leave by mid-March. Holy cow patties!!!!!!!!

Meanwhile, I don't hate boating today. We were on the boat doing various projects until around 11:30 this morning. I was bored. Finished my book which was not as engaging as other John Grisham murder mysteries I'd read. David was working to fix, re-engage the electronics that have been scrambled by the EMFs we were exposed to out in Sister Creek. Hope it was only the boat electronics and not our own nervous systems.

Anyway, left the boat around 11:30 A.M. got to the marina (only 6 minutes away now!!!) in ample time for my Basket Making Class. Terrific! Tedious. Needs attention and precision. Patience (yeah, my strong point). Concentration. Some physical dexterity.  And so satisfying. I've made a date with a boating friend to meet tomorrow to work on our projects.

The teacher, Patty, provides starter kits for $25 with all you need to make a small pine needle basket w/beads and wrappings. Cool. I worked with 4 other beginners and we all got to about the same place in our first basket. That would be about 2.5 wraps of our center piece. Slow progress these first three wraps of pine needles.    

Basket beginnings

Pine needles are a foot or more long

The sweet thing is that I have a "hot pad" and a small basket that my grandmother made of pine needles - same process - when she moved to FL back in early 1960s (?). It is such a sweet memory that Mama was making this same stuff and that I thought it was something only OLD people would do and how boring, and now here I am (old people) enjoying it. I'm amazed at how beautiful and original some of the baskets and trays are that women have made here, and how beautifully precise is the stitching, both functional and decorative. Reminds me of aunt Kathleen and her, by hand, quilt making.

David was bored w/Marathon today. He did some errand while I learned enjoyed baskets and the women who were engaged in that. We talked tonight about how to become more engaged with this community, the Boot Key harbor community. Invite people for drinks, shared dinners, music or movies together. Interestingly we don't invite people to dinner, etc very much in Maine. Our socializing tends to be "running into people, out" rather than inviting people "in", with a few exceptions, of course. Ah, the skills and techniques of making acquaintances who may become friends. And then there is the challenge/perception of only being here a short time so what's the point. Well, the point is...to not be lonely, to not be bored, to learn about other people and their values, trials, and successes.

Today I met Denise and Roy who were obviously wealthier than I...and not that I consider it were obviously lonely, at least she was. They sat at my basket table after all my colleagues had left (I was the last sitting because I was a slower learner) and asked questions about what I was doing, where from, etc. I worked to be engaged w/them and not let our apparent financial difference get in my way. I did okay. I hope to run into her, especially, another day.

Interesting. The boat is David's passion, his toy (not to dis the importance of the boat and his maintenance of it which is potentially life-saving for us). My passions and toys are not here. I'm working to entertain myself and stay engaged in a way he doesn't have to work/concentrate. I think this may be true of other boating wives, so we look for other engagement outlets. Perhaps Sunday or Saturday I'll take my music to the band shell and dance, improvise for fun w/my passion.

Photos of my paddle boarding attempt...from yesterday...or the day before. The woman who let me borrow her paddle board took them on her phone and just sent them.

really bad form but at least I'm standing

Better...moments before I splashed