It's been almost two years since JT has been in the water, and if I pay close attention here, maybe buy the right kind of pickles, she will get into the water for a good long cruise before the end of the season.
It has been a wonderful two years since I last wrote, there is no denying that. Today I have paused in my efforts to pack up where I live to try and describe here the new adventures that await my energies. I have been more than fortunate to meet a woman who defies description, and with any luck in the world, I will spend a very long time trying to describe her. We keep each other on our respective toes, there is laughter in the middle of the night and at all times of the day, and it is simple joy to be in the same room with her. It will be the best of fun! I just need to find a home for a certain stuffed Warthog I own, as it completely clashes with her decor!
I have two strong sons, there is less distance between us than before, and dare I say, perhaps some real healing of wounds suffered long ago. The older is planning to plunge into marriage, and while my track record on that subject is less than Olympic like, I will be there for him if he needs me. The younger son, such a journey he has had! The road and distance he has gone, and my honor to travel it with him, even the worst parts where the days blurred together as he fought his demons. There is change, there is sweet change in the air, the energy of it to breath in and make ones stomach roll slightly with nervous energy.
Given the complexities and some tedium related to moving, my mind turns towards here to put words to these next adventures. I have survived homelessness, a stroke and other adventures, and now I am standing, ready to push off the shoreline with a boat, a bottle of wine, a long expanse of calm river to explore. Some clear jazz on a radio, a good book to read along the way, and bug repellant because, well, it isn't always a Garden of Eden out there!
I truly believe there is no such thing as coincidence, my mother metaphorically beat this into me at a young age, and every day I try to make sure I pay attention to those intersections as they arrive in front of me. I made the acquaintance of someone recently who is sending out 1,000 paper origami cranes to see the world. I asked if I could take one with me on my little boat and she is sending me one. This trip will not be as far as others she has posted on her web page, but I would hope the depth of the trip rubs off on this little crane. It would be nice to know this little folded paper absorbs some of this clear jazz, a little calm water and the adventures of seeing the world, even close by to home.
Back to packing here, does anyone need a lovely stuffed Warthog to grace their home?
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Post launch......
Today is an anniversary of sorts of my life, I just realized this when I looked at the calender for some other reason. I was rather dreadfully ill two years ago today, while thankfully I don't recall much of it, I am fortunate to be alive here now. That is all that need be said about that!
I am the son and grandson of bonafide survivors. My mother and grandmother survived Hitler, and as my mother used to say, "After that, most everything else was easy." It is a bit of an oversimplification, but simple things are a good way to start.
Building this boat exists on several layers for me. One was the challenge of recovery and the celebration of that. Another was pushing mechanical boundaries. In addition, building it with the spirit of my friend who passed away at my side. Lastly, to remind myself how much fun this was, is, and will continue to be.
It's been two days since we had this adventure, pulling a fifteen foot boat down the city streets of Chicago behind a somewhat beefed up bicycle. Seeing the looks, the cars pulling up alongside as we putted along at 4 miles an hour, honking their horns and shouting encouragement was amazing. My good friend John behind me on his bike, giggling the whole way there!
Finally seeing my boat, "J.T." floating on the water.....it was all perfection.
I am the son and grandson of bonafide survivors. My mother and grandmother survived Hitler, and as my mother used to say, "After that, most everything else was easy." It is a bit of an oversimplification, but simple things are a good way to start.
Building this boat exists on several layers for me. One was the challenge of recovery and the celebration of that. Another was pushing mechanical boundaries. In addition, building it with the spirit of my friend who passed away at my side. Lastly, to remind myself how much fun this was, is, and will continue to be.
It's been two days since we had this adventure, pulling a fifteen foot boat down the city streets of Chicago behind a somewhat beefed up bicycle. Seeing the looks, the cars pulling up alongside as we putted along at 4 miles an hour, honking their horns and shouting encouragement was amazing. My good friend John behind me on his bike, giggling the whole way there!
Finally seeing my boat, "J.T." floating on the water.....it was all perfection.
Sunday, August 4, 2013
It was supposed to be today....and it was....
After waking up at 4am and having a discussion in my brain about the 143 things that could go wrong, at about 11:15 am today, with a few drops of rum on its bow, the Chugger design, "J.T" went into the water and floated like a dream!
More and video later....
More and video later....
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
The Beginning of the End towards the beginning of floating...
Some things I have been pondering the last week or so...
Will the toilet flush on the boat? Do I have enough interesting books on board? Are the oars I bought long enough to reach the water?
Sigh...... the list goes on and on....interestingly, not one of the things I ponder has to do with whether or not the boat will float!
Ok, ok.....time to get to the point of this post.......Saturday July 27th....at about 10am......yeah yeah, I know....the boat goes in the water!
Now.....I am going to need some help...hence this message here. Of course, the really smart ones of you already know I will feed you.....might even beer ya as well!
Some basics.....5100 North Francisco...on the WEST side of the river...use the Argyle bridge to get to the west side of the river.
My needs......some folks to come to the boat shop a day or two ahead of time to load the boat onto it';s trailer and take it for a test drive. I will provide drinks for this minor event as well! Some people to help get the boat OUT of the river at the end of the day as well, as the boat launch has a minor hill on it...
Sigh... only took a year to be able to send out this message, but here it is.,...... can't wait to take y'all for a ride!
More to come.....
Will the toilet flush on the boat? Do I have enough interesting books on board? Are the oars I bought long enough to reach the water?
Sigh...... the list goes on and on....interestingly, not one of the things I ponder has to do with whether or not the boat will float!
Ok, ok.....time to get to the point of this post.......Saturday July 27th....at about 10am......yeah yeah, I know....the boat goes in the water!
Now.....I am going to need some help...hence this message here. Of course, the really smart ones of you already know I will feed you.....might even beer ya as well!
Some basics.....5100 North Francisco...on the WEST side of the river...use the Argyle bridge to get to the west side of the river.
My needs......some folks to come to the boat shop a day or two ahead of time to load the boat onto it';s trailer and take it for a test drive. I will provide drinks for this minor event as well! Some people to help get the boat OUT of the river at the end of the day as well, as the boat launch has a minor hill on it...
Sigh... only took a year to be able to send out this message, but here it is.,...... can't wait to take y'all for a ride!
More to come.....
Sunday, May 12, 2013
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.
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.
Mothers Day!
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