Moonlight Music

We so enjoyed having some new neighbors that broke out of the usual mold...excellent musicians on their journey with joy and good will.  What a change from the bitter sourpuss whose only noises were complaints and criticism!

Their music made all of us in love with life...for the precious fleeting moments we are sharing.

We are enduring the heat surprisingly well...making each other laugh...and dreaming of August nights in Maine.

Peacocks and the Past Afoot

Besides the momentary excitement of the impressive NYFD prototype boat (fresh from the factory), that docked steps away from our vessel, peacocks and the past have been flooding my mind.

I took the boys to The Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park.  As we entered, we were greeted by traditional and white peacocks. Strange music filled the air (piped in from hidden speakers cloaked in the spanish moss canopy above).  We were transported in all but body to a mystical land.  Despite the incredible experience of drinking water from the same source they discovered over five hundred years ago, it was the Timucuan Indians who stirred my soul.  The living museum was a reminder that the ground we trod on had once been a peaceful community living in harmony with nature.  They were entirely slaughtered by the "brave Spanish explorers" who landed on their paradise and crushed them as they tried to rape all they could from the earth.  Blake and I had a memorable conversation with a young man whose genealogy dated back thousands of years to that fateful day when the white men landed.  After that, we both felt the peacocks eyes were gazing at us with both beauty and sadness.  I do believe that his generation will vindicate Native Americans by true remembrance of fact rather than rewritten history which glorifies so much wrongdoing.

O.K.  Let me climb down from my soapbox and speak now of my most elusive comrade...Monsieur Memory.  A dear friend from twenty years ago reached out to my sister on Facebook trying to contact me.  My first response...that was soooooo long ago.  I felt ancient.  Clearing away the mist of years past, I remembered those days of youth.  So much ahead.  So intent on following passions.  Trying to trace the path of my life.  Complicated ground.  Which led me full circle.  To the now, to the voyage of discovery, to a partial mid-life crisis out of which blooms creativity, clarity, and contentment.  There are few forces stronger than the soul of a mother in her forties!  Which of course leads to a Happy Mother's Day for all the Mom's out there and to the men who are men enough to mother in their own masculine way while loving the Mom's in their lives.  That's confusing but, you get the point.  That's all for now, folks.

Friends and Foes

Can you believe our dock neighbor, scurrying in and out of her vessel like a cockroach for the past ten years, repeatedly complained about our family until, at our wits end, we moved to the other side of the marina!  Which leads me to the question...why do some people feed off of misery and discontent???  One of the resident pirates told me that her family has been in St. Augustine for over one hundred years, as has his family.  He shook his head and proclaimed  that each generation of her ancestors was more mean spirited than the next.  As a result of her inner torment, our cats are now harnessed 24/7 and our kids feel they are constantly under surveillance by the noise police.  After plotting my revenge for days,  I've cast away my hatred and like a balm on my wounds, Lulu and Ryan, our dear friends from Maine arrived for a week!!!

Many memories of boogie boards and beaches...late nights and laughter...

How sweet the taste of true friendship!

The boys and I are flying back to Portland July 14th for a months stay at my parent's lodge on
Moosehead Lake.  Can't wait to smell that New England air!

Hope you are all doing well and embracing spring.

Family

We are doing well in our little corner of the ocean.  The boys both received new sponge bob pajamas in honor of pajama day at Blake's school.  Dante refused to take his off for forty-eight hours and caused many a chuckle to sneak out of frowning tourists as he trotted about town.

There is nothing quite like the love and encouragement of a parent.  It convinces you that any journey can be attempted and finished if only you can see your self through their eyes.  My parent's visit was such a needed gift for all of us and we feel rejuvenated and inspired to continue our adventure.

It was wonderful to meander through the streets and sit in the sun...hardly any tourist sights were seen...beautiful non-agenda afternoons!

Blake went bungee jumping for the first time and Dante on his first tilt-a-car ride...

On a final note, legos have won the prize for the best toy on board!

Days of Discovery

March has been full of mischief.  Promises of warmer weather quickly snatched away, stolen bikes, and our galley seemingly shrinking.  It's not that I am turning morose, as some say my last blog hinted at.  Quite the contrary, I feel more alive and determined to embrace every joy than ever before.  It's just that I tire of tasks that were once so simple, turning to tremendous repeated efforts a la Sisyphus!  Let me give some examples.  At the end of a long day, I could once simply flop in to my snug bed.  Now, I have to disassemble the dining room table, re-make the cushions, and carefully place in two side boards.  A stroller which could once be wheeled inside the garage now needs to be closed, hoisted and jig-sawed tightly in our dock locker.  Cooking dinner on two tiny burners with counter space smaller than our cutting board tires even the most industrious girl out not to mention heating the water (carried from the dock spout) in a small kettle and trying not to repeatedly slosh water on one's toes!  I could go on...

And yet, our days are a continual discovery of each other and our selves.  We laugh at the lack of space and the hardship and somehow sleep has never been sweeter, a stroller never so fabulous, dinners never so delicious!

We are still learning how to slow down.  Finding cafes and fountains where Dante will be content to let us people watch and talk about everything or nothing.  That hasn't happened in years!

Hope you are all doing well.  Please continue to stay in touch.

luctor et emergo

The words have been hovering over my soul for days now.  I've incorporated them in to my play that I've been struggling through, muttered them as I completed my grueling tri-weekly jog, and softly whimpered their sounds in the midst of some dark dream.  After looking at the stain glassed window hundreds of times and giving assorted translations to those who asked,  I finally decided, once again, to check on every intellectual's best friend, Wikipedia for a definitive answer.

luctor et emergo

I struggle and emerge

Motto of the Dutch province of Zeeland to denote its battle against the sea

the motto of the Dutch province of Zeeland: Luctor et emergo, meaning "I wrestle and emerge"

What has my life been on the boat if not a constant struggling and wrestling juxtaposed with surrendering and relinquishing???!!!  And talk about emerging...  true identity and life truths continue to find me at every turn.  

I am truly a New England girl.  I feel like a foreigner in Florida's shallow sun.  Despite my continuous efforts to deny it, writing and the theater has and will always be my true calling.  I'll be poor the rest of my life if I can contribute to those two passions in some small way.  I won't ever go back to a menial job I can't bear.  My two boys are the most beautiful conundrums, riddles that always surprise me and leave me longing to be a better mother.  My husband was right (how hard to type it) when he said I would only be happy if I was writing as if my life depended on it.

There...how's that for a healthy gallon of honesty!

St. Augustine endears itself to me.  Every errand is ripe with people watching and some sort of drama.  It's bike week in Daytona and currently the town is inundated with biker men and boys with the occasional sighting of that elusive vixen, the biker babe.

We still speak longingly of Maine, despite the knowledge of what the state resembles in mid March.  Thanks to all who continue to encourage me with e-mails and phone calls.  

I'm returning to my play.

Peace,

Rebecca

Relearning Rhythms

Still at a standstill!  Our dinghy is growing some sort of aquatic moss and our spirits are restless.  When you live aboard something that is supposed to GOGOGO it seems entirely wrong to be hanging around the same place day after day!

However, we learn more and more about our home du moment as family comes and we do highly informative touristy things. Speaking of family, we got a visit from our beloved cupid (aka Greg), who not only introduced John and me 14 years ago, but finally got married to his own true love!

We've been getting our fair share of rain as so many of you are getting dumped with "the white stuff". In the Carolina's, a few inches caused thousands of car accidents by panicked drivers...reminding me of when I drove my car into a snow bank as Blake jumped up and down in the back seat, excited we might have to call the police...AHHHH YOUTH!

Dante and Blake continue their growth by leaps and bounds, physically and even more so mentally. Lots of firsts for Dante...merry-go-rounds, living across from pirates (they moved us across from the Black Raven), balloon dueling...and lots of happy hundreds for Blake...walking the streets in a downpour, dock racing, balloon dueling...

We are missing Maine intensely this month and all those we hold dear...