Author Archives: Melissa

Another Year Ends…In Failure

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The decision was made early in the day, as soon as I looked at my smart phone and saw that the temperature was going to drop below freezing last night. I wanted to go home. We had not spent much time on Moonrise lately, as is usual for the winter months, and I was feeling guilty. We have this great boat, we pay for the slip each month. We needed to use that boat! Plus, she was just sad sitting at the docks all by herself. Guilt can be a good thing when it moves people to action, but when it leads to actions that are not based in reality, it kind of sucks. What reality had been denied? The reality of winter: that the cold sucks all the fun out of sailing.

The unretouched actual color of the sky.

The unretouched actual color of the sky.

There was going to be a raft up of folks from the Puget Sound Cruising Club, meeting in Blakely Harbor to watch the fireworks over Elliot Bay in Seattle for New Year’s Eve and it sounded like fun. Never mind that most of the people in that club either live in Seattle, a short ride across the water to the harbor, or very close by and we live 5 hours away by motor if the tide is with us.  We decided to go a day early and spend two nights on the boat. This was our second mistake.

We made arrangements for Andrew to watch the animals, packed some food, and headed out on Sunday. There was no rain, and also no wind. Zero. After a 5 hour motor boat ride up to the harbor yesterday (and that is a record time for us) we anchored in peaceful little Blakely Harbor yesterday. I would like to say that we were excited to be there, and excited to be back on Moonrise, surrounded by cozy looking homes with their Christmas lights up. It was quite festive.

The reality on Moonrise, however, was quite different. Guilt had pushed me to want to do this trip and while excited to be back on the boat, by the time we got to Bainbridge Island, I had reached a state of chill that was pretty uncomfortable and was remembering why we didn’t do much boating in the winter. You see, I have all these memories of being out on Moonrise, enjoying the big outdoors. This time I was actually quite grateful for the lack of wind as it would have dropped the temperature even further. I have mentioned before that I do not do very well with cold. It occurs to me that I may have to give up dreams of sailing in colder locations if I can’t figure out how to stay warm. This leads to a deep depression, so I won’t talk about it.

We hunkered down in the cozy cabin with our propane heater going, had dinner, watched some videos and turned in early. Even though we were warm all night, and the v berth really cannot be beat for sleeping soundly, I awoke with a swollen throat, feeling worried about the weather, my ears hurting down deep and with that inner knowing that if I spend another day on the boat in that kind of cold, I would be well and truly sick. As long as we stayed in the cabin, we’d be warm, but going outside to sit around and visit with people was not going to happen. Not to mention the difficulty using the head with two pair of woolen leggings, polar fleece pants, my sailing bibs, and multiple shirts, plus a jacket, gloves, a muffler, and two hats. I’m not kidding. That kid in “A Christmas Story” has nothing on me when it’s winter on the boat.  In the end, it was the prediction that the temperature would fall below freezing last night, and there was a slight possibility of snow, that made me verbalize my longing for home. And Mike agreed.

This kid has nothing on me. At least he has a mom to zip him up.

So there you go. Our big ‘winter trip’. Five minutes with the jib up. I freely admit that I breathed a sigh of relief when we tied the dock lines in our slip, and the first thing I did when we got home was take a nice long extra hot bath.

The saving grace was the Dahl’s Porpoises playing by the boat in Colvos Passage at the beginning of the trip. Here is a short video, with about 1 split second of playing porpoise, followed by footage where I search the water for them. Exciting, no? You can pretty much stop watching after the first 3 seconds. Happy New Year to all!

Oh, and it was a beautiful, sunny 28 degrees this morning. Thank the good LORD I am home!

Days of Sloth

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It’s the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, a time when people reflect on their lives and what they’ve accomplished over the year, setting goals for the future. The dark days of winter are, I’m sure, created in order for us to have time to be introspective, thoughtful, mindful of how we live our lives. And I intend to do just that. After I’m finished resting and relaxing.

Hermione knows what I’m talking about. What a face!

Yes, indeed, I have hit the days of Sloth full force with my resting ways. Today I have accomplished the following: a shower, throwing wrapping paper from Christmas into the recycle bin. That is all, really. And I am completely satisfied with my level of usefulness in the world. My needs this week, in terms of being at all useful to others, are small.  And in this slow-moving, deliberate living I have embraced of late, I have, indeed, had some time to think, even if I haven’t given it much notice.

The ultra cool Space Needle in Seattle. I stuck this in here because it’s a groovy photo I took this season. Some day I will buy myself a really awesome camera and learn how to use it.

I’ve been thinking about how this time last year I was on a rampage getting rid of stuff. It’s as though I somehow thought that our cutting of the dock lines was just around the corner of our lives and that I had to hurry up and simplify. Oh, brother.  In so doing, I have complicated things terribly. Whatever you do, don’t believe everything you read about how ‘freeing’ it is to get rid of all your stuff because sometimes that is just a damn lie. And this lie comes home to roost on Christmas day when you have 9 people over for dinner and own only 3 dining room chairs because you gave the other chairs away since they were cluttering up the place. And then you have the neighbors over for dinner and apologize about the lack of chairs, commenting that you don’t know what happened to them and they respond with, “You gave them to our son last year because you didn’t need them anymore. Do you need them back? You don’t have anyplace for people to sit when you entertain.” Right. Like I’m going to take back chairs I gave to someone just starting out in life who can barely make a living much less buy new chairs. How embarrassing.

Oh sure, throwing everything out would be freeing if I didn’t ever need things again, or if I was moving onto a boat, say, tomorrow. But since neither of those things is true, I better slow down or we won’t have anyplace to sit in our own home.

What we have here is a collection of very tiny ornaments. I will NOT be getting rid of my collection of tiny Christmas ornaments. They will go with us on whatever boat we have. They take up almost no room. Without Christmas, there would be no Days of Sloth. And I must have them.

Oh, we’ve de-cluttered the place nicely this year. We’ve made so many trips to Goodwill that they know us by name. But the dirty truth is this: getting rid too much stuff well in advance of making a move to a small place, or a boat, is useless. Why? Because nature abhors a vacuum, that’s why. We live in a 3000 square foot house, more or less. Already with both kids gone most of the time, we feel as though we are knocking around in a huge empty space. Getting rid of things that take up that empty space just creates more empty space, and, naturally, it somehow gets filled with more stuff.  It just feels weird to have big blank areas where furniture needs to be. I took the advice of all the self-help gurus and got rid of all the stuff I didn’t use or have on display. That leaves exactly 3000 square feet of stuff that I DO use and IS on display. The house is too big for just us, but we’re in a transitional phase just now and we’re not getting rid of it anytime soon.

And speaking of that, I’ve been pretty attached to my house lately. Maybe it’s just that it’s winter, and cold and wet but I’ve come to realize that my dreams of being on a boat really do generally include warm weather and sunshine. Not that I don’t want to sail in colder climates. I do, but I don’t intend to be miserable all the time while doing it. So this time of year when I miss the boat and think ‘let’s go sailing’, I look outside, realize that what’s in my head doesn’t match the reality outside,  and then become thankful that I’m warm and dry. Call me middle-aged. Call me a sailing wimp. Whatever. I prefer to think of it as ‘blooming where I’m planted’.

Here’s a photo from the butterfly house at the Pacific Science Center, for those who need a break from the narration. I like how this butterfly totally brings together the colors of the plants. This is how gardeners think in the winter time.

Mike has been more productive today, but then, he has a more finely developed sense of guilt than I have. After all, he did grow up in the south. He and Andrew replaced the brake shoes on two cars today, so he feels like he deserves to be laying on the couch reading one of his many new books he received from Santa this Christmas…books on sailing. Mike received 4 riveting books that are sailing oriented, and we’ll post about them later. For now, suffice to say that while Mike received books on sailing adventures, and Andrew received new sailing boots and a new anchor roller for Danger Kitten, I received kitchen utensils and a gift certificate to the spa. I’m beginning to sense a trend. Now, to be fair, I have been ‘into’ cooking lately, as is evidenced by the luscious Beef Bourguignon I served for Christmas dinner. Still, I believe my point is well taken. I will be reading his books so I dearly hope he is in a sharing kind of mood.

He must be really enjoying this book because I’ve heard a lot of snorting and guffawing, and comments like ‘this guy either has balls or he’s an idiot’. And also things like, “I know what’s going to happen next because we’ve done this. Oh, Lord, at least we know he lived to tell of it.” I can’t wait to read this book.

And so during these days of sloth when I’ve given myself the gift of not giving a damn what I get done, Mike lies on one couch, I type on another couch… you can see where I’m going with this: we simply must buy a boat with two generously built settees. Otherwise, there is no other way this whole plan will actually work.

 

 

We’re Still Here! Happy Solstice to All!

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Apparently the world is still here, at least so far. The Winter Solstice, the day I look forward to starting on June 21, has arrived and, at least as of this writing, Earth is holding its own. No fanfare, no nothing. Oh, except all the ‘End of the World’ parties. I prefer to think of this time as ‘The End of the World as We Know It’, and based on the horrible news of this week, we can only hope that this is true. If we’re in the beginning of a new cycle, indeed, then let it be one filled with joy and hope and love for all creatures.

In the smallness of our own lives, I celebrate the return of the sun, as well as the birth of the Son, by reflecting on all that is good here at home. This includes the fact that we will be with both of our children on this winter day. Our plan is to spend this metaphorical end to the world, and beginning of the new world, by going to see the King Tut exhibit at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle. I plan to be in awe and inspired and to meditate on how we are all connected to this rich history in one way or another.

Here are some images from this special winter solstice day in 2012. May we all find our own peace on Earth.

I am not allergic to fake trees. I revel in the Dr. Seuss quality of this tree.

Love this Coral Bark maple.

Winter hydrangea

Anna’s Hummingbird. We have many of them and they fight over the feeders. They are hilarious!

Grevillea victoriae, a shrub from New Zealand that blooms almost the entire year here. I originally grew it for the hummingbirds, but now I love it for itself.

The entertaining and personable chickens. They now come running to me when I go out, clucking loudly.

A final note, in case you were wondering, this is where Santa’s elves live during the year. I took this with my phone, in pouring rain, in a moving car. Hence the hideous quality. Still, now you know.