Mothers Day, Part 2!

This weekend is one of those cosmic collisions that one must both embrace and shudder about, all at the same time.

Yesterday I finished the boat, to within about five percent of it being done. There is some paint to be applied, a few screws to be inserted here and there, and some hardware to be mounted. But I could throw it in the water today and make it work!

Today is both Mothers day and my best friends birthday. He would have been 54 today. My mother passed away seven years ago.

 I will admit that yesterday's work was hard. I kept picturing the both of them sitting with me in the boat on some piece of calm water, I can see my mother in the galley, making sandwiches and a pot of tea, and then we would sit and eat and point out interesting things on the water. Jeff would laugh his full deep laugh and be quiet, smiling all the while. He would want to drive the boat, and he and my mother would sit in the cockpit, sipping tea, and talking about all the shared experiences of our lives. I might sit in the cabin, baiting a hook to fish with, and although I am no fisherman, it would keep my hands busy. My dog Nala would be near Jeff and my mother, eating the crusts of the sandwiches.

I could see us coming up to some landing  somewhere, tying the boat up near a field, and going out to pick some flowers my mother had seen. The dog would run and play and chase bugs like she does.

As the afternoon turned towards evening, the radio would come out, as would a glass of wine to go with some music. We would light some lights, put up the tent awning and make some dinner. The stars would slowly come out in time with the music as we ate. Nala would snore softly on the bed in the cabin, rousing now and then to make sure she has not missed her share of the leftovers,

We might watch the stars move across the sky a while, my mother would have, perhaps, thirty five pieces of historical and philosophical trivia about the stars. She would voice how she always wanted to be an astronaut.

Jeff would not say too much, his laugh would come out now and then, and his measured voice would contribute a remark now and then.

The water would push against the hull and make soft noise as we soaked it all in. At some point my mother would insist on doing the dishes before we turned the boat around and headed for home. Nala would sit next to her, waiting for a plate to lick clean. Jeff and I would talk of the day, and other days like this one. Once the dishes were done, we would untie the boat, and slowly chug back upriver to the boat landing, where the real world awaited us.

It was a great, hard day that has spilled into today as well......and that is more than ok.