3/2/16              Wednesday          Boot Key/Marathon, FL


The windsock billows, full
of its blue, yellow, red
Self
Now sighing
Only its mouth, hooked like a fish
to the forestay,
is open

The radio emits a life
of static

Amelia will not leave
Her settee for the foredeck
And me.

I will not turn on
the anchor light...yet

All the boats, tethered,
school like fish,
face into the wind

I acknowledge
But do not embrace
The ephemeral nature
Of being

Dinghied into the marina solo to take the yoga class. David stayed aboard and did some fix-it projects. Post yoga I hung at the marina and answered some emails, sent some emails, saw that some people were making jewelry. Of no interest to me but I do look forward to the pine needle basket class tomorrow. Doing more homework will be helpful.

Lunch back on the boat. I'm proud that I went and came in the dinghy on my own. More and more I know how to trouble shoot the engine to encourage it to start. Steering is not a problem and I even did some successful (i.e. make the dinghy go where I wanted it to go) backing at the piers today. A nap.

Trip to the beach! Hurrah! We were going to go with Wendy and Dan but both had a small bout of food poisoning so they declined. David and I went...past our old haunts in Sister Creek and to Sombrero Park and Beach. The water - that turquoise water- was so perfect. We bobbed around for 10 or 15 minutes then went back to our chairs to read in the sun. It was late in the day so we weren't too concerned about burning. We left as the bugs started coming out so the stay wasn't very long...not long enough. Perhaps Friday we can take Grace and anchor just off the beach, spend much of the day swimming and sunning and swimming and.....and get some boating practice before we start north.

Evening sitting on the fore deck in the warm night breeze - so beautiful. So grateful. So sad...that ephemeral aspect of life on Earth. Loving my life and all my opportunities and privileges and good fortune.