What a wonderfully lazy Sunday. Rain everywhere. All directions. Except from under the boat...as far as I can tell.
This view from the bridge confesses that we are tied to a dock, in a marina. The Lady's Island Marina is one we visited by dinghy two years ago when our friend Brian was here. Another lovely community of people who sort of live here, on and off their boat, at least part time. The boaters lounge has big table, cushy furniture, kitchen with borrow-able stuff for cooking and spicing, t.v. and video player (not sure about dvd), give-away table. Sweet.
The view aft is more dramatic. Finally, at nearly 2:00 PM both David and I are dressed and more or less active...and Amelia has gone back to bed. We had a leisurely breakfast after having leisurely coffee and leisurely reading and a leisurely tumble in the proverbial hay. All things to be enjoyed in our life of privilege. And a great time to remember other rainy days of privilege with companions and writing.
Hearing, and smelling, the soft summer rain at the Lost Colony, sitting on my apartment bed, writing of those conflicted emotions of delight and guilt - new beau vs old beau, adventure of the new and perhaps mis-placed loyalty to the old; 3rd floor apt on Waterville St in Portland, ME while rain sheeted past the picture window, opaquing the view of the harbor; learning to sew pillowcases with my friend Tommy on Hastings Ave, Winston-Salem, NC, we must have been 8 or 10 years old; I remember that I've splashed through rain and rain puddles numerous times in my life, mostly joyfully; standing in my boots in the culvert by the apt on Waterville St and enjoying dry feet as water rushed around me. Privileged. My feet were dry and I could/would be warm and dry inside a warm, dry apt.
We've been here two nights, having arrived from B&B Seafood on Friday. Our intention was one night. This is another of those "velcro" places. Mary the manager/dock master(mistress?)/cleaner, general do everything person is a delight and she LOVES Nauticats. Except for the 'no drawers' design, what's not to like? David and I decided this would be a good a place as any to make sure, or make, our dinghy motor run(s). There is a shop here and as much expertise and equipment to borrow as you could want. I asked about a water barrel and was told that "Bob has engine earmuffs you can borrow." Well, it's not that cold here and the engine isn't that loud and why would the engine need earmuffs anyway. Turns out we have a pair of these....at home. They allow you to run water into the water cooled engine while it is out of the water. TaDa! Our dinghy engine is now in tip top shape again.
We've had a bunch of visitors on board since we arrived. Interesting that two couples have nursing or medical skills, and one woman telecommunicates, 9-5, so must be in port for a secure and encrypted connection, thus they can only travel on weekends.
We were interviewed on video for a Youtube site called "Sailing Nervous." A novice to cruising couple's helpful hints and learning-as-you-go site. It was fun. Will be interesting to see how the edits turn out and how clever or dumb we turn out.
Talked with several people..."do you live on board?"...."well, we're sort of in transition..." Aren't we all?!! All the time. "...planning to do the loop this summer... but we've bought a house here...if we're not on the boat more or equal to the time we're off the boat...do we need such a big boat?' And the couple who can only travel on weekends due to her work. Of course. We're all In Transition. Always. Yet we hang tightly to our 'identity' and our situation pretending or assuming or fearing all is static and molded in concrete, maybe from birth. ooh, take a breath.
Admittedly, being in transition, conscious of transition, can be fear inducing and tiring. Still....
I'm reminded again of the line in The Twenty poem, "And here I am, looking at the door." Door of/to what? Change? Growth? Death? Renewal? Opportunity? Such a powerful image for me...looking at the door. (I also like "standing at the gate" as an image.) Is it open? closed? Secured? and does 'secured' mean closed and barred? Similar to the better known poem "Prospective Immigrants, Please Note" by Adrienne Rich and the line "...the door itself makes no promises. It's only a door."
I'm trying to get to "creativity." I managed to finish the 'tie-down' for one of our pilot house curtains and will finish the other today. I managed to get my collage supplies out of the forward cabin and into the salon. I've considered finding, cutting and sewing squares of the fabric for aft window curtains, a truly creative endeavor - NOT - but would allow more privacy. Space, lack thereof, and the necessity of putting stuff away rather than leaving projects spread out, is the rub. And I'm well aware of all the literature on creativity that says if I wait for the perfect circumstances, creating will never happen.
Okay, I'm off....to something...practical or creative.
Enjoy the Super Bowl!
No comments:
Post a Comment