Moments of Refection

I sit here on the back of Last Mango, it’s 12:50 in the afternoon and I just cracked open a  Leinenkugel’s Honey Weiss thinking how lucky I am. By the way it's my first Honey Weiss and I really like it. I performed a small amount of work earlier and I’m trying to decide what to do next. Go sailing in the dinghy? Go for a bike ride? Go snorkeling because it’s a bit hot today. Karen’s off having lunch with a friend and won’t be back for a while. The feeling of being lucky actually hit me yesterday. Karen and I went to the Milwaukee Zoo with friends and had “Feasts with the Beasts”. We were in the aviary and I didn’t have my cell, I looked at my watch which I haven’t worn in quite some time. I then wondered why? I had nowhere to be, nothing to do other than be enjoying my time at the zoo. I’m not sure what I thought of it. Do I long for a sense of purpose? No, at  least not at that moment or any moment I can think of. I know that many people can’t wait for the date that they can break away from the so called daily grind. I believe that more people could make the break if they want. I’m believing they don’t because their sense of being is very tied into the job they go to each day. Don't get me wrong I know money is also an issue for some. I may be wrong. What I do know is that I’m enjoying myself. Karen says she is also. She hasn’t yelled at me for a couple days so either she’s really pissed or happy. I’m thinking happy. I’ll try to have Karen write her view or counterpoint.



By the way I still receive email from D303 and it brings back memories of the past 18 years ramping technology up for the start of school.  I wish everyone there a good start to the school year and I do miss you all.


Since Karen’s gone I apologize for any grammar errors.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Out of contact for a while

Image
The trip down the river on the 14th and 15th has not been that pleasurable. Let me start by saying that when we are boating or sailing, weather is the number one thing to follow closely. The flooding on this part of the Illinois River is incredible. Water is well over the flood stage. That’s good because we’re less likely to run aground. Last Mango needs at least 4 1/2 feet to float without running aground. Also the high water makes the current run faster which helps lessen my fuel consumption (currently .46 gallons per hour @ 2400rpm). The downside of the high water is the amount of debris in the water makes it somewhat stressful to be motoring down the river. I told Karen it reminds me of the video game Frogger. Almost constantly having to dodge logs, tree branches and tires. Tree branches and more. More Debris. More Pictures of Flooding. Flooded dam. We get to pass right over it without locking. Hurray! Picture Maury and Sandy fro
Read more
Image
 4-10-21 Our last night in Florida has me thinking of this years cruising season and how different it was from previous years. Karen and I talked well before the normal winter cruising season about staying home quarantined in Iowa City for the winter. We debated the pro’s and con’s and quickly decided that we would enjoy quarantining aboard Last Mango much better. Being aboard Mango (even if we didn’t sail a lot) would allow us to enjoy the warm Florida weather rather than what turned out to be a much colder and snowier Iowa winter. Not to mention that the Florida summers are really hard on boats in storage. Boats like RV’s or just about anything else fare better when used regularly rather than sitting idle. We really feel for our Canadian friends who were stuck up in the Great White North, we missed them and look forward to seeing them next season. This year spending almost all of our time in and around the Fort Myers Beach area has me being thankful for several things. First I have t
Read more

Good Bye Key West, Hello Shut Down

Image
4-4-20     As of this writing Karen and I are residing at her parents house down here in Florida. The past several weeks has been a stressful adventure for us and I’m sure everyone else. Karen and I were not sure what shoe would drop next as Florida began to take the Coronavirus more seriously. We were very happy spending time at Stock Island Marina and Resort in Key West as we started to sense trouble was heading our way. Each day I would wake up reach over and turn NPR on the radio, each morning broadcast would reveal more spread of the virus around the world and across our country. Karen was very nervous as each day brought more bad news. In the whole scheme of things we’re very lucky, we were not concerned for our health (maybe living in a false reality) but we were concerned about Florida being shutdown and not being able to pull and store Mango. We had plenty of food, water, fuel and could sail anywhere we wanted (winds permitting). Sailing down Hawks Channel towards Key West
Read more