Winter Dreams

It's cold, snowing, a real winter in NY.  It reminds me of my childhood back in the 70's, when the snowbanks were piled higher than the tops of our hats.  We were headed into a new ice age, or so the leading scientific consensus of the time stated.  I guess things change.  But one thing doesn't...

In the depths of winter, I always start dreaming of summer.  And with summer (in my mind) comes wind, water, and sailing.  I love to sail, and I love to look at sailboats.  Beauty, simplicity, form following function.  I think I love daydreaming about sailing just as much as the actual practice of sailing.  That's not true.... but it is close. 

To me, sailing is self-contained self sufficiency, a vehicle for adventure, and a traditional art-form.  I loved teaching sailing back in Oregon, mostly because the students questions drove me to research the origin of arcane terms and words, like Foc'sle (folk-sul).  But I also loved watching students change from awkward hamfists to wind sniffing artists.  Trimming sails, noses held high to the wind, steering a sharp course.

Anyway, I am dreaming of woodworking projects and polishing bronze and brass.  Maybe a new outboard for the dinghy.  Destiny (a Flicka class sloop) has a lot of teak, too.  You'd be amazed at how dingy teak gets, even when she is put away under cover for the summer.  And once she is back in the water, perhaps Elizabeth, Mo, and I can feed the rat by making some trips up the Hudson or down the river into NY Harbor and beyond... (and Elizabeth has a lot to learn about sailing!!)