Saturday, September 13, 2014 Vero Beach, FL I was dreaming that I was I was stuck in the storm while Elvis kept singing about walking in the Kentucky rain. Waking up with a start I discovered that a passing thunder shower was pouring water through the open porthole above my bunk. Half my mattress was soaked and one of my pillows was a soggy sponge. Grabbing a used t-shirt, I toweled the water from face and chest while thinking how odd it was that Elvis had been in my dream. I stripped the sheets off of the mattress and stood the two halves upright to dry. Stuffing the sheets and the damp t-shirt into the dirty laundry bag I headed into the main cabin to lay down on the settee to finish out the night like a man in trouble with his girlfriend. My cat, Gandalf, voiced his concern over the change in sleeping arrangements, but as soon as I was settled in, he curled up behind my knees and in a short time we were both asleep. In the morning I was feeling a little cramped, but not all that bad. Fixing a bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee I checked my email and Facebook page. Gandalf started pestering me by trying to stick his muzzle into my breakfast. I had to get stern with him before he would back off. Pushy dang cat. Bagging up the trash I dropped it off on the way up to catch the bus into town. Getting off across the street from Publix I grabbed a cart and started collecting the groceries I needed and some I didn’t. Bread, milk, cereal, distilled water, a custard pie, and eight pieces of fried chicken all went into the cart. I was heading to check out when I got an urge to have cream cheese and bagels for lunch, so back down the aisle I went. Once I cleared out of the store I headed to the bus stop and arrived just a few moments before the bus did. The whole round trip only took an hour. Back at the marina I stopped in the lounge to check the weather in the eastern Atlantic. There are a couple of low pressure systems coming off the west coast of Africa that I’m keeping an eye one, as well as a system percolating just off the south Florida coast. The disturbance off Florida looks to be heading to the Gulf of Mexico and then on to Texas. One of the invests in the Atlantic seems to be making its way up the center of the ocean, which is good for me but I suspect rough on ships at sea. The second system looks to have a better chance to become a storm but it is too soon to know what it will do, at least for a few more days. There is still a large mass of dry dusty air sitting just to the north of the low pressure system which makes me hopeful that it will suppress further storm development. I’m keeping an eye on it never the less. If the storms hold off for another three to four weeks that would be good, then hurricane season would be over and I could relax a little. Back aboard I worked on a writing a short piece of poetry for a friend who is going through a rough patch in life right now and I figured a few words of encouragement might be helpful. It took me most of the morning to compose a dozen or so lines. I felt good about getting it done so quickly. Poetry is not my forte but thinking about my friend gave me all the inspiration I needed. Besides, if the poet Robert Bly took a decade to write a poem, finishing one in a morning was pretty good. My friend’s reaction to the poem was all that I’d hoped for so I felt pleased. I’ve been keenly aware of subject of “kindness” recently. I’ve read a few brief posts about subject, mostly passed on by Carson Boyd, an extraordinarily wise friend I’ve enjoyed knowing for over twenty five years. Likewise, I’ve been the recipient of many kindnesses as I’ve progressed along this voyage and it has stimulated me to practice kindness more often. Being kind is so much more joyful than being a critical jerk I think I’ll continue doing so. Friday morning I got up, showered, ate breakfast, and caught the 0800 bus towards the beach. I needed a fitting to repair my folding shopping cart. I took the axel off of the cart, which had lost a ring like clip that kept one of the wheels on, thinking I could use the thing to show the hardware man what I was looking for. As I boarded the bus I told Jerry, the driver, that I was getting off at Ace Hardware. I sat down and began to talk with Harry, my dockmate, about looking after Gandalf while I was visiting family in Texas. I realized after a bit that we’d gone past the hardware store and Jerry apologize for his lapse in memory. I told him that it wasn’t a problem as I’d just get off when we returned. A short time later I disembarked just a half block from the store and said, “See you later,” to the driver and Harry. There was a nice breeze blowing as I walked the short distance to the store’s front door only to find that they were not opening for an hour. Looking around for a place to hang out I was faced with an abundance of banks, lawyers, and insurance offices, but not a café or coffee shop in sight. Looking east I saw that the beach was only five short blocks away and figured something had to be open there for sure. With a goal in mind I pulled my shoulders back, lifted up my chin and marched briskly down the sidewalk like a man on a mission. The reason for the shoulders and chin thing is this, my daughter had said that she’d spotted me at the airport based on my stooped over posture. When I asked her what she meant, she stood up, rolled her shoulders forward, and hunched over like the bell ringer at Notre Dame Cathedral and said, “Like this.” It looked like an impersonation of an old man. Forget that crap, I will not tolerate looking like that. Not at all. So sound off; gimmie your left, right, left, right, left, “We don’t want to go to war, we just want to go ashore. Lead us to the coke machine, we’re the candy assed Marines. Sound off, one, two, sound off, three, four. Bring it on down, one, two, three, four, one, two, THREE FOUR.” I marched on to Mulligan’s for coffee. The sun was bright on the water so I chose to sit inside at the bar. The fan above my head felt good as it cooled my slightly perspiration dampened skin and visited with the young lady who brought me my coffee. Two cups later I reluctantly said good-by and walked back to the hardware store. It only took a few minutes to find a fitting that would replace the lost one, but it would be close to an hour before the bus returned so I wandered around the store looking at stuff I didn’t need. The time went quickly and crossing the street I caught the bus back home. I ate a couple of pieces of fried chicken and a large salad for lunch all washed down with ice cold water. Of course after finishing lunch it was nap time. There was a time when I was little that naps were more like punishment. Now they feel like a reward. “For all that you’ve accomplished this morning we would like show our appreciation by awarding you with two hours of nap time.” So with applause ringing in my ears I head aft to stretch out on my bunk. Gandalf must have done well also because he joined me a few moments later. Later that evening I sauntered up to the lounge to join my friends. The jokes were rude but the laughter was joyous as we bantered like men who like each other are wont to do. After an hour or so it was just George, Pete and myself left so we moved around to the back of the building under one of picnic shelters and continued our conversation, at less raucous but more philosophical level. Pete ordered a pizza delivered and we talked on into the night. It was with some reluctance that I said good-night and headed back to Kittiwake. It had been a wonderful evening, one which I’ll cherish in memory for some time. This is Captain John aboard the sailing vessel Kittiwake thanking you for joining me. May the winds always favor you.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 23:53:49 +0000