gone a week and still on land

Matthews, VA - on land

Grrrrrr. In spite of the beauty of this day - sunshine, 48 degrees, blue sky - frustration that Grace is still on relatively dry land. Mechanic, John, is working away but David and I have pretty much done all we can to ready the boat without getting in the way and given that the entire boat interior is torn apart to accommodate the engine repair.

We've put three sails back on and there are mountains of stuff to re-settle, clean and do AFTER she goes in the water before leaving for NC and onward. And, the weather is just getting colder. Never mind that today and tomorrow are to be deliciously warm and brilliant. Next week is looking sucky. Meanwhile, no pushing of Mercury! Even knowing the expense we're incurring I'm a bit more sanguine about our frustrating predicament than David is. He noted he was fearful I'd loose patience and abandon this trip (and him). I will loose patience/have lost, to some extend, but will not abandon the trip and certainly not him. We'll just make decisions as to how and how far to travel based on weather and comfort as those decisions present. We can't reasonably decide some things in advance. In for the pound at this point (reference to n 4 penny, n 4 lb.).

Mighty Mender and I worked together again today. MM complained but I pushed it to sew those fabric shelves. Together we succeeded. I still have to hand sew the loops that will attach to the screw eyes in the closet and then a final fit before putting the bias hem on the front edges.

Amelia and I went for a short stroll in the apartment yard today. She is pretty timid but wants to be outside for a bit. She more enjoyed going out on the deck a couple times this evening. While David was grocery shopping I put up "our" Christmas tree, the one our host left for us to use or not as we chose. Most of the lights flash. It is made of 6 triangles of plasticized chicken wire. I like it and it makes me feel more seasonal and festive. It's on the deck beside the picnic umbrella which looks a bit like a stage curtain.

Joy!                                   

New day

Matthews, VA

The sun is shining this morning. And it is supposed to be slightly warmer. Somehow knowing that Mercury is in retrograde makes my attitude lighter, too. "Extra Grace (is) needed" around all things mechanical, communicative, and technical. I might be able to practice patience a bit more, especially toward my partner here. Morning yoga helped, facing the sun out the deck door and view across the water/creek.

The past couple of days have been tough. The boat isn't done, as promised, and it is clear that the mechanics are challenged. Old boat, and Finnish (European), so parts are hard to come by and the space around the engine is cramped. They've had to make modifications and do work-arounds. And it is cold.

By morning my computer had NOT recovered from its "frozen" state of last eve. Wouldn't turn off. Wouldn't close apps. Wouldn't do anything. I plugged it in and closed it up. Luckily, this evening I tried just holding down the "close" button longer than normal. Worked! But I did think "Mercury retrograde" just rest for a bit and something will happen. No trying to push the river. I'm hoping we - David - can do the same, have the same patient attitude, with the mechanics tomorrow. And invite them to have that patient attitude with themselves and their work. No lolligaging, but patience. Mercury is too big to be pushed around by mere humans and our preferred schedules.

David and I accomplished lots on Grace today in spite of the chill. I brushed snow and leaves off the decks, cleaned the bilge some more, bent on a sail, fitted the new sail cover then put the old one back on (new one still needs closure hardware), cut a pattern for the fabric shelves mentioned in earlier post. David repaired the keel and put a skeg on to protect the rudder from nasty pot warp and other errant lines in the water. Tomorrow will be another sewing day for me. A functional, creative endeavor.

Laundry mat adventure and home by 4:30 - still daylight. I made soup, made Amelia go outside. We three took a nap before dinner of said soup. AND, watched t.v. on an old set with screen about 16 x 16". Sixty Minutes and lots of commercials.

The photo is of a "do it yourself" power line support that we pass on our way to the boatyard. Just before the photo snapped there was a sparrow hawk sitting on one of the points of this leftover tree, cleared from the field.

I like the attitude. Also, deer hunting season continues until the end of December. We've seen several deer near the road. Perhaps the only safe place since hunters won't shoot toward cars. The deer are much smaller, and grayer, than Maine deer - only about 3' tall at shoulder.

Snow/sleet/snow

Matthews, VA

A slow morning of coffee, reading. I tackled the cute little Mighty Mender sewing machine.  Frustrating. Took me several hours to get it to work properly. Tiny, plastic spaces such as bobbin winding and insertion are challenging for my aging fingers and eye sight. Also, I'd missed a thread guide so the needle wasn't picking up the bobbin thread. And then...and then..but finally, success and I made two, count them, TWO successful seams (including back stitching) to finish a small project.

I'm noticing that Amelia is sleeping longer before she starts waking me at her two hour intervals, midnight to 7 A.M. This causes me distress so I get up to make sure she is still breathing. She's old, and I worry about her. Similar to new parents waking up to make sure their newborn is still alive. Amelia went out several times today and this evening. Wanting to be outside. Not particularly liking the snow and cold. Sniffing to discover familiar smells. Not sure there are any here for her.

David and I went to the boatyard to gather a few things from the boat that we need at the apartment. Then took off for an afternoon of adventures - library book sale that our host told us was great (it was/is); then drove to Yorktown to visit West Marine Express for zincs for the engine. Continued to Newport to visit the Maritime museum there. A great exhibit about the Monitor, an Ironclad Civil War ship that has been found off Cape Hatteras. I surprised myself by being interested in that particular technology, how the South and the Union developed it differently, how both had flaws to be corrected. Really good educational exhibit. I am struck these days, though, by the "whiteness" of exhibits and the "gift shop" offerings. Was it Howard Zinn who said that the victors write the history?   From their perspective, of course.

I'm feeling a bit stranded here, not knowing when to expect the boat to be ready for us to move back aboard and get her in the water. Makes it impossible to plan. Should we settle in?, leave for NC family visit?, seek a volunteer opportunity here?, really explore this area and go exploring? Actually, we want to stay visible to the boatyard to keep the management focused on our project. And there is the "cha-ching, cha-ching" stress of all the related costs...the boat work, the apartment rental, the car rental. Knowing, too, that Mercury is in retrograde is distressing with the incumbent mechanical, technological and communicative challenges that brings. I'm impatient, worried, in need of a creative outlet. Perhaps sewing the fabric shelves tomorrow will be helpful.

Warmer tomorrow, and sunny, according to predictions. Winston-Salem and Freeport have snow.

Still shivering

Matthew VA

This has been a sixes and sevens kind of day, not quite snarky but could have easily slithered in that direction. I started a bunch of stuff but finished little. The muffin frittatas stuck to the muffin tin. It is raining. It is cold outside and cool inside. Al Franken has said he will step down from the Senate.

David went to work on the boat, pressing hard to get all he can do, done, while keeping out of the way of the mechanics. They, the mechanics, are clearly being stressed by our being present. When we learned that the boat repairs were not going to be completed as promised by December 1, we wanted to get here specifically to keep the company focused. They are pressing to get that engine aligned and re-installed...or re-installed and aligned. When David left last month the mechanics got called off to other things. So, we're here now, as planned. Grace is not finished but IS the focus again.

I stayed at the lovely apartment, said goodbye to our hostess who is going on a European cruise for 2+ weeks, tackled email and writing my MoC (Members of Congress), took out the Mighty Mender that I purchased 2 years ago for $10 at the church yard sale. When someone asked what I was going to do with it, "Put it on the boat and let it rust," I said. It is a cute little sewing machine, hasn't been on the boat yet, and I look forward to sewing on it sometime in the next 3 days...making fabric shelves, turning the useless hanging closet in the aft cabin into something more useful - shelves. Some reading. Monthly receipt organizing and determining, sort of, average daily expenditures. I've done this since our 8-month boat trip in 2015-2016 just to see how we are using our money. I'm nearly ready to give up the practice.

I gathered David around 3 PM and we did some errands, food shopping, back home to apt. to cook and a game of "take two." David became horizontal around 8:30. I'll continue to read for a bit longer.

As we came in this early evening (did I mention rainy?), a big raccoon trundled across the yard. And the deer here are really small, about 2.5' - 3' tall. I realize that I have to look lower to the ground if I want to avoid them on the road edge.

Tomorrow, rain predicted so we'll take a play day and do some sight seeing.  Mercury is in retrograde until nearly Christmas. Be cautious/careful with all things technological, mechanical, and involving communication. It's a fragile time for such.

Practice joy (even in the cold rain).

Matthews, VA shiver

12/6 Matthews, VA

Finally we've arrived at our temporary destination, more or less settled into the sweet apartment we are renting since we can't live on our boat...yet.

Our road journey was easy enough if you count 3 days of driving easy. We shared driving responsibilities but David did a lions share, especially in congested city areas. Getting across the GW Bridge between NYC and NJ was slow and tense and noisy. Perhaps we can never again drive across that bridge. Surely the Tappan Zee farther up river is easier - less crowded and prettier.

We found pet friendly motels so kitty was welcome. She has NOT enjoyed the car ride even though she has slept most of the travel time. Actually, she's sleeping most of the time. No major yowling at night, awakening me for food only a couple of times to eat rather than every 2 hours or so as at home. Today's travel, after we crossed the Potomac River, was calm with limited traffic, and beautiful. Large expanses of farm land put to bed for winter. Lots of horses and one sighting of LOTS of goats, white with brown necks and heads. Odd but lovely. We listened to lots of news and analysis and wrote our Members of Congress last night, several times on several different topics - having heard that MoC like a letter/email for each concern rather than a laundry list. Laundry list describes my concerns...so very many.

We stopped at Zimerman Marine to have a look at Grace and pat her hull. Then on to our temporary abode. I settled the cat and myself while David went back to Grace to chip away at the chipping bottom paint. We'll both go tomorrow to spend the day on boat bottom work, hoping to get new bottom paint on before it turns too cold to stick...on Friday. YIKES!

Meanwhile, all three of us are glad to be "settled" for several days and only driving (sans kitty who will sleep in the apt.) for 15 minutes each way to and from Grace.

Albert and Jenni's boat looks ready for winter. Magus is across the yard from Grace. I'm sure they are buddies as their captains have become.

Ready or Not...

...we've left Maine! What an arduous day! Mine started around 6:00 A.M. and it is now 8:50 PM in Sturbridge, MA. A non-stop day of packing, cleaning, packing the car, going to the bank and the P.O and the dump. Saying goodbye to neighbors and the neighbor's cat and the other neighbor's elder dog who ambled up for a visit then chased the other neighbor's cat. Bad, old dog. So many goodbyes. On the plus side is that both David and I have passed on clothes that we've quiet wearing.

I took a walk down our frozen dirt road this morning. All the grasses were covered with hoar frost. Cold. Beautiful. Pond, frozen. How fortunate to live in such a beautiful place. But/and...cold.

The car is packed to the gills. How, oh how, or where oh where are we going to put all this stuff on the boat? Holy cow! Some of the stuff is food that we didn't want to leave behind so that will disappear. We are bringing lots of paper and art supplies, expecting to make it to the Bahamas where we will pass the supplies onto schools. And we have all the elder kitty paraphernalia, including kitty litter!

Finally, we left the homestead, with one little look back, sigh, goodbye. 3:14 PM rather than 10:00 AM. Aaaarrrgh. But the house looks great! And, hey, what's the rush?

And now kitty sleeps beside me while David and I watch t.v. ...a fun activity since we don't have a t.v. at home. I might last another hour before sleeping. Onward toward Annapolis tomorrow, perhaps to visit friends, Lynda and Jeff.

Joy.

Almost Ready

December 2, 2017

Beautiful, chilly morning in Freeport, ME. We're two days out from leaving this home, starting the car journey to re-join Grace in VA. Then onto...wherever...further south. Everything seems immediate, and fragile. So many tasks will not get completed, friends not visited, conversations not had due to the press of time. Who will be here when we return? Nothing and no one will be the same, including ourselves. My relationship to change is filled with love and hate. And, of course, there is no choice. Change is....constant. More so, even than death and taxes.

I have this urge to touch everything and everybody, to freeze all in my mind as it is now. To remember this frozen state rather than embrace all the evolution.

Meanwhile, the house is chaotic in spite of the brief facts of cleaned and straightened and in "perfect' order only 4 days ago. There has been a great deal of clearing out, giving away, a little selling, and organizing going on. David has made (sewn) new sail covers and a Bimini cover and helped Spencer get his boat in our shed and monitored our boat repairs and new equipment. My goals have been more in the letting go of stuff and making visit dates with friends, not as willing to let go of them.

This morning I've packed food, I'll dance and go watch dance at Bates College and enjoy those friends for a brief moment.

I can't remember a time when I've enjoyed "leaving" but I am totally excited about this continuing journey, on the boat, traveling with David and Amelia "on Grace" - literally and spiritually.