Boat Work
'Boat work' today was quick and easy. Got 'er done in a few hours. Therefore, it wasn't really boat work. More, it was just doing the bare minimum – covering our boat since our last tarp was in tatters and we needed a new cover for the next winter.
Our boat stayed on the hard all summer – it never went in the water. First time it happened for us. Sucks, but what are you going to do. It's like having your husband be away all summer, or not seeing the sun all summer, to not sail all summer. Just a strange, empty feeling.
But we can be thankful for so much – all the other things we attended to that normally we neglect when spending almost every waking moment at the boat in the beautiful summer weather. Time socializing, relaxing, swimming, eating, watching fireworks, watching people in their bathing suits, etc. One long, extended vacation. With some work in the middle of the week. That's how summers used to be. I didn't sleep much – half my sleep were afternoon naps, often on the boat, swaying below deck, hearing the waves smacking up against the hull, hearing the wind rattle the halyard against the mast – that comforting sound. Waking up to junior sailing lessons and ducks swimming past your boat, boat crews coming down the piers and assembling in their boats, getting ready to race. Stretching out, getting ready for a sail ourselves, with our intrepid Portuguese Water Dog in tow.
Yes, those were the typical summer days. Endless social events, and so many nights trying to wrap it up and say goodbye, only to finally make it back to the car an hour or two later. Packing up and coming back to the house late on a Sunday evening, returning to a home that looked gigantic and foreign compared to our small quarters on the boat. Feeling like we had been camping for a week. Our home looking and feeling strange. The floor and table doing weird things – swaying every now and then, swashing back-and-forth. Sometimes it would take me a few days to get used to being back on land permanently. Only then to head back to the boat at the earliest chance, and remind my feet what true ground should feel like.
Two hours to do boat work, on a boat that we didn't sail or even work on all year long. It could be another year before we sail it. Strange.
But it's good to have variety in life. As much as you may love one thing, it's good to challenge yourself in new ways, if just to even yourself out. You can't forget leg day. Well, sometimes, even for sailors, you have to be landlubbers – work on the house, spend time at the beach, the parks, etc. Go camping. The other kind of camping – before it was all a floating camper (a boat).
Coming out of this summer, it has evened us out, and made us thankful for new things – the sauna, the hot tub, renovations around the house, work on our cars, etc. More than anything, though, it just gives us a perspective on our lives that we may not have had otherwise. It just gives us a chance to see ourselves in a new light. There are choices all of a sudden – it's not a forgone conclusion, what we're doing with all our free time. That's nice, too.
So as we wrap up the boat, approach Hallow's Eve, and another cold, long winter, we can be grateful that we even HAD choices. That is privilege in and of itself. But we don't have to stop there. We can be grateful for all the bounty that is available to us – in nature, in our community, in our resources and with our friends. There is much to celebrate and much to do. It's good to have that experience, just to be reminded of it.
Even when we our favorite summer activity is taken away, there is still a wealth of other opportunities available to us. I am grateful. Amen.
Thank you, Jesus. Thank you for your bounty. Amen.