And We Say, Good-Bye

For the last 11 years S/V Dragonheart has been our home.  Cynthia grew up on her and Michael and I learned lessons we didn't even know we needed to learn.

She was our own little world.  Sometimes that world was safe and calm and other times not so much.  We learned to anchor, navigate, make our own electricity and water.  We snorkeled, we fished, we read and we had fun.

So many wonderful memories of wonderful times with all our friends. We will miss being out there on the blue and salty ocean, but all good things come to and end.

Dragonheart has new owners who will have new adventures.  We wish them well.

Good-bye old friend.  Takes as good of care of them as you did us.  Dance in the waves and foam and wind as only you can. 

This Blog will end here.  Please follow me on lifecanbemessybringamop.blogspot.com
Thanks for all my followers.
~ Cindy

I have a favor...may-be two

First I believe that we all have the right to our opinions.  Secondly we have the right to express them.  I do not, however, believe that we have the right to bully others with our opinions.

My first favor.  Please stop sending me emails about political candidates.  You will not change my mind.  You especially will not change my mind when you continue to bash, bastardize, and vomit vitriol on any candidate.  You claim in one post that you are a Christian and in the next post you have some vile half truth posted that you want to shove down my throat.  You do not check your facts.  You just continue to spread what ever is out there on the internet.  I can find enough garbage on my own.  I really do not need your help.

I think that good open discourse is necessary.  I find very little of that in the emails and posts that I am reading.  I would hope that we would spend our energy on finding common ground and solutions that truly will help us be The Greatest Country In The World.

My second favor:  This favor is tied to the first.  Please do not put my email address out there for everyone on your list.  Because you have done this in the past your zealot friends now have my address and are flooding my email with the same political crap that you just sent me.  Learn how to use the CC and BCC features of your email.  I know it is harder to do on your phone or tablet, but you can do it.  Learn how.

Thanks for listening to my rant. ~Cindy

So I Went to a Concert

Having a 17 year old will keep you young or put you in an early grave.  Cynthia is a fan of the band,  The Airborne Toxic Event.  I have come to enjoy their music so when they were scheduled to be in Las Vegas I agreed to go to the concert.

The concert took place at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino pool side.  Because of my age I remember going to concerts in stadiums, not poolside in a hotel. REO Speedwagon, Kansas  City, in case you were wondering.

As I looked around and saw the diverse group of people it struck me that here we were in a large group just one day after the horrific shooting in Colorado.  I turned to Cynthia and said we need to talk about what to do if there is a shooting.  Not a pleasant thought but one that we did need to discuss.  It was a very open area with not many places to hide.  We decided that we would play dead.  I decided that I would cover her with my body.  Then we decided to enjoy the concert.

The first band was LOUD! and that is an understatement.  They were so very LOUD that even Cynthia said, "If I go deaf because of this shit, I am going to have the ass."  I had to agree.  It wasn't just that they were LOUD.  You couldn't understand the singer and he was so angry.  Anyway they were the warm up band.

The main event was AMAZING!  It was everything that I had hoped her first concert would be.  She was caught up in the music, the dancing, the crowd.  It was great for her and it was great for me.  I must admit that next time I won't be so close to the stage.  (We were 2 of first 15 people in and it was SRO so there we were in front of the stage next to the SOUND!)

I did realize that I could not stand for the whole thing and found a small table that I could sit on next to a palm tree that gave us a great view and we were at least 15 feet from the SOUND!  Small comfort to our ears, but my feet did thank me.  Cynthia, she stood the whole time!

On the way home she asked me if I was surprised when the lead singer jumped into the pool.  I said not so much I had seen crazier stuff in the 70's and 80's.  Lead singer jumping into the pool...pretty tame.

What did surprise me?  That this Alternative Rock Band was working with Wounded Warriors.  That was AWESOME.

Next concert...earplugs.

There’s a Bee in My Bonnet!

Actually there are bees in our mast making honey and lord knows what else.  Bees in masts are a common problem that you face when your boat doesn’t move much.  Here at the marina several boats have had bees over the years.

This year it is our turn.  Barnacle had them and got rid of them with poison.  Déjà Vu had them.  Then Pamela Jean had them and paid an exterminator to rid their boat of bees.  The next day the bees were swarming over the mast of Consort.  When Androsian had them Carole put a sign up with an arrow pointing to our boat, just before they poisoned their bees.

So this morning Bob from Barnacle came to inject our mast with poison.  Apparently the bees were forewarned of my intent.

This note was taped to the mast.

The Note from the Bees

I will translate.

Please! Please! Please!

Do not kill us bee bees, This is our house, we live in the mast!

Dear Queen of Dragonheart – please, accept this gift – the sugar of our bodies and do not kill us!!

Bee Kind and bee nevolent!

With love,

The Bees

Of course there was the small gift of honey setting on the deck.  Still in all I do not want the mast full of bees.

The honey for the Queen of Dragonheart

I told Bob to begin injecting the mast!

Thanks Jewels for making my day.  To bad about the bees!

Lines, Apple, The Black Christ & Choices

Waiting in Comfort for Apple

Lines, I have never liked standing in lines.  There are lines in the grocery store, the bank, at the movies and lines in the Army.

Recently Apple debuted the new iPad and the lines were spectacular!  People camped out for days in front of Apple Stores and waited for the latest and greatest that Apple had to offer.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Apple products; I even ordered the new iPad online and had it delivered to my sister’s house so that it will be waiting for me when I return to the States.  No line for me!

So this past weekend we went to Esquipulas, Guatemala to see the Black Christ in the Basilica there.  We went with friends from the marina.  What do you think we encountered… Lines!  It was the most amazing thing that I have seen in a long time.

Of course it is the Lenten Season and most Catholics are busy preparing their souls for Easter.  It is a time of reflection on the suffering and death of our Lord.  To my way of thinking the Catholics of Guatemala are doing it right.  Not only do they make pilgrimage during Lent, it is all year round.  When the buses leave Esquipulas they decorate them with colorful brush ropes that make it clear to all that they are from Esquipulas, home of the Black Christ.

A Portion of the Line

The wait to see the Black Christ up close was over 3 hours!  You have a chance to be up close and personal, a chance to leave a fetcha, or milagro that asks for healing or forgiveness.  You walk out backwards so as never to turn you back on the crucified Christ.

Busloads of Latin Americans travel to ask prayers at the feet of the Black Christ.   They wait in line patiently, entire families: small children and babies on their backs without much more than a bottle of water and perhaps some tortillas.  No camp chairs and sleeping bags for them!

The Basilica

On the day we arrived we saw the line and were convinced we couldn’t wait.  We went in and looked from afar near the foot of the Alter.  We participated in part of the Misa or Mass and shopped in the Gift Shop.  We discussed our next plan of attack.  We figured that we only had one more chance to get a photo.  That would be before Mass in the morning.  The first Mass was at 06:30.  Orin, Cynthia and myself decided that we would get up and leave the hotel by 05:45 so that we would be there before Mass.

The Black Christ

We met in the dark hotel lobby and when we emerged into the dawn we found that there was no transportation.  So we walked to the Basilica.  Imagine our surprise when the line was three times as long!  We entered the Basilica and it was full to capacity with people filling the aisles.  We were able to get closer, but not close enough for a photo.  We said our prayers and turned to leave.  Again we found no transportation so we began the walk back, only this time it was up hill and Cynthia was the only one with good knees.  Orin and I were crippled, but determined.  I admit that I wimped out about 500 meters from the hotel and caught the first tuk tuk that I saw.  It was worth the 4Q or fifty-one cents!

So by now I am sure you are wondering what lines, Apple products and the Black Christ have in common.  Our lives are full of lines.  We decide which lines we will stand in and wait.

 I certainly wasn’t willing to stand in a line for a new iPad, though I only circumvented that by ordering online.  In effect I stood in a virtual line.  When faced with the decision to stand in a real line to spend a few minutes in front of the crucified Christ I looked for ways to make it easy.  Instead, like most of the Apostles I stood at the bottom or not at all.  I was not a Mary or a John.  I was more like Peter and the rest.  Standing on the side peering over the heads of others, hidden by the crowd.

Yes, we choose and based on those choices we are judged.

And It Rains in Guatemala

When we moved to Bullhead City, AZ in the Fort Mohave Desert I was so homesick for lush green of the Rio Dulce in Guatemala that I was lost in the beige.  I longed for the flight of wild parrots, egrets, cormorants and the Maria Antoinettes (Lesser Green Heron) of the river.  I missed the masses of wild orchids and Emperor Staffs that bloomed with abandon at the marina.  The Flame of the Forrest by the Marina Office and the sweet smell of jasmine as you walked the path in the evening.

Now I am on my boat on the Rio Dulce and in the morning I sip coffee in my favorite corner watching the clouds cover and then uncover Cerro San Gil.  The shades of gray and green in an every changing dance of shadow and light.

Of late the sun has been hidden in torrential rains that have raised the river enough that I have adjusted fenders on the boat.  The good thing is that our carpenter has been sealing all the leaks!  Today he even came by in the rain to make sure that his repairs were working.  I assured him that all was well with his repairs, but that I had found a new leak.  He tracked it down and assured me that he would return on Monday and do a permanent fix.

I find that my skin is no longer scaly, but plump with the humidity.  My hair is curling in ways that I had forgotten it could.

I miss my walk around bed.  I had forgotten how hard it is to get in and out of the V-Berth.  You swing you legs over your husband’s head and hope that you don’t fall out on the floor.  Because I am not as limber or as thin as I was once was I now have to grab one leg and move it over his head, I can only hope that my heel won’t drag across his nose or forehead.  Now it is time for the other leg to be assisted as it too crosses over his head.  Sliding to the floor with the assistance of a small stool I now rush to the Head, which is only 2 feet away.  However, when you have a full bladder and have just completed gymnastics for the morning 2 feet might as well be 2 miles!

We are busy cleaning out each locker and I do believe that we have removed 10lbs of old paperwork!  Old photos cause us to stop and reminisce for a moment and then Cynthia reminds us that we have work to do.  Tons of stuff has been donated to various people in the village and the orphanage down river.  May-be the river isn’t up as much as I thought, it could be that the boat is lighter and sitting higher in the water.

Think that we need a couple of weeks of good dry weather so that they can finish with the work on the boat.  Then I can start packing the things we are bringing back.  Until then I promise to try and enjoy each day in Guatemala.

Lists, I Love Them

I am a list maker.  I think as soon I could write I became a list maker.

There is even special paper numbered for list making.  There are printed grocery lists with the staples there and you add your items.  Scrap paper can be used for list making.  The ever popular note pad, index cards; lined of course.  And now there are list Apps.

I find that I get sucked into buying the list app and then using good old paper and pencil.  I do not like pen for list making.  I will admit to making a list of things that I have completed so that I can line through each item.   Sometimes you need a completed list after the events as much as before the events.

Currently I have a shopping list, a packing for Guatemala list, a to-do list for genealogy, a book reading list.  Actually the book reading list is several lists combined on a website.  You know goodreads.com where I have, books to read, books read, books currently reading, books I couldn't finish, etc.

There is the list about putting away the motorhome while we are in Guatemala.  The list to remind me of things to tell my family before I go to Guatemala.  The list about the cleaning the boat when we get to Guatemala and eventually the list about putting the boat up for sale in Guatemala.

In all honesty I must admit that I just bought a new list app.  It is called "Clear".  I will have to let you know what I think about it as soon as I transfer my paper lists to it.

Clear App

Happy list making!

Do I Still Want Facebook in My Life

I have had mixed feelings about Facebook from day one.  Originally I was sucked in because a good friend invited me to see some photos.  Turns out that if I wanted to see the photos then I had to join Facebook.

It was very exciting in the beginning.  Sharing updates, photos, little bits of our lives and then it happened.  Facebook started to dominate my life.  High School buddies started to show up.  So did ex-husbands, their current wives and various children.

It is not that I am not happy to keep up with all these wonderful people, but really, I am finding that I am not really sharing anything with them.  Nothing that really matters to me.

I miss the days of looking in my inbox and finding a chatty email with a photo attached.  Now most of my emails are from companies or blog updates.  It seems that the more connected I am the more disconnected I feel.

I have been using Facebook less and less and am seriously thinking about dropping it all together.  I long for a phone call (I hate the phone), or a chatty email.  It still care, I just am tired of hitting the "like" button.

The Laundry Wars

I am not a fan of laundry.  In fact, when in Guatemala I pay the "girls" to do my laundry.  When my parents would come to visit us on the boat, Mom did my laundry.  I am teaching Cynthia to do the laundry.

RV parks like marinas have a season.  So all the sites are being filled and the demand on the laundry room is increasing with each and every motorhome that drives in and stays a week, a month or a season.
During the summer months when it is 120 in the shade most leave and only the full-timers are left.

Washers

Cynthia and I would take a book or my iPad and read or play games and music while waiting for the laundry to finish.  We had the place to ourselves.  We were load and had fun.  We weren't bothering anybody so it wasn't it wasn't a big deal.

One man does laundry

All that has changed.   They are back!  And so begins the Laundry Wars.  We walked into the laundry room and only one machine was open to wash and there were no dryers available.  They look friendly but you can't be sure.  Now I am the type to stay with my laundry.  I admit in Guatemala I would go back to the boat, but I set a timer.  Here I must be vigilant.

Dryers

The first load is in and I am trying to be casual as I scan the amount of time left on the washing machines.  The machine next to my first load is coming up in 3,2,1, MINE.  As two more would be laundresses come in I grab the machine.  I only need one more machine and the lady from British Columbia says mine will be ready in 3 minutes, if you want it.  "Thanks," I say.  Cynthia stands in front of it, marking our ownership.

More people keep coming and I am now watching the dryers.  It will be close.  Timing is everything.  What?  Someone is claiming that my wet towels are on her machine and she can't move to the dryers.  "I believe that they are on my machine," I tell her.  I am correct.  She apologizes.  "Not a problem."

Whose Turn Is It?

A dryer is open but the owner is not there.  (Ah, the age old debate.  Do you move a total strangers clothes?)  The lady from British Columbia offers to fold her friends clothes so I can have the dryer.  I clean out the lint and in go the clothes.

Two more dryers come open and Cynthia and I are ready.  We claim them.  We are in the home stretch.  More people come in.  One lady opens the door views the room, laughs and leaves.  I am unconcerned.  I am folding a load and their squabbles over who's turn it is, not my problem.  It is every person for themselves.

I hate to say it but I am going to have to be an early bird to the laundry room.

SmartPhones, Twitter, and Facebook

Most of us by now have some sort of smartphone.  We take photos and post to Twitter and Facebook live.

Professional athletes and Celebrities post their pithy thoughts on various subjects and some get them in trouble.

Privacy is a thing of the past.  If we see something that we like we post it.  If we something that we don't like, we post it.  I try to be careful of what I post these days, but sometimes I have a short fuse.  Today was one of those days.

We are members of FMCA (Family Motorcoach Association).  We have a plaque with our membership number displayed on the rear ladder of our coach.  Most members do the same.  So there it is for all the world to see.   And then we do something for all the world to see.

Sam's Club, Bullhead  City, AZ.  There is is in all it's glory a Class A motorhome with it's FMCA plaque displayed, tow vehicle behind it parked across the lane of traffic.  There were lots of options that would not have blocked the lane, but they didn't choose one of those options.  No, they blocked traffic.

So smartphone in hand I took photos.  I posted the photos on Facebook.  I don't tweet, which is probably a good thing.  And now I am going to post the photos on my blog.  I posted on the FMCA page and started a discussion.  I am on my soapbox.

Rude and Dangerous

See the plaque?

RVers have a bad rap out there.  We drive too slow or too fast.  We double tow, where allowed and we generally forget that some of us are over 40 feet without that vehicle or trailer full of toys behind us.  So when we pull into Wal-Mart, Sam's or Costco we should try and find an area that will allow us to park out of the way and yet still have an easy way out.  We shouldn't block lanes!

Let's all remember to share the Parking Lot.  Thanks.

I Got an iPhone

We finally purchased an iPhone.  We had been using Verizon, but since we moved we don't get a signal. No I can't hear you now!

So we paid the fee to get out of our contract and signed up with AT&T and have signal and a new iPhone4.

The thing I like most about it is that I can take photos on the spot and upload to various sites  I am into instant gratification.

My latest adventure with the phone has been taking photos of headstones.  I love it.  The phone automatically tags each headstone with a GPS tag so that I don't have to tag the photos manually.  There were over 3,500 headstones in this cemetery!

Needles Riverview Cemetery

I had a great helper, Cynthia.  She helped photograph, clean and document the headstones.  Nothing like packing water, sandwiches and heading out in the Arizona sun.

I actually have always liked cemeteries.  The people there are quiet and usually nobody bothers you.  There are interesting stories at almost every step.  Now I have my handy phone.

So My Sister Calls

So my sister calls and says, "You know that you have boxes here in storage."  I didn't remember so we went over and started to open them.

What do you know...they were full of memories.  One box was from our cruising days in New Orleans during Madi Gras.  Lots of beads and other stuff.  But lots of memories.

The next box was full of books.  Cynthia's books.  I think that she has now re-read most of them.  It was a walk down memory lane for her too.

The final box was full of Sailing Books.  All the how-to and what you should bring on a cruising boat, cruising guides for various parts of the Gulf Coast.  We had unloaded them before heading to Guatemala.  We wanted to lighten the boat!

Memories of the Texas ICW Guide, the Guide to Western Florida, Essential Cruising and Celestial Navigation.

Not sure what to do with the books.  I know what to do with the memories.  Treasure them.

Who Do You Think You Are?

The title of a weekly show, brought to you by Ancestry.com is called; Who Do You Think You Are?  It follow celebrities as they go searching for their ancestors.

Usually there is at least one moment when they are touched by what they found out about a certain member of their family.  I know for me there are several moments when a certain someone touches me.  Amazingly enough it is really not the famous ones, though I have them too.  It is the ones that were extraordinary ordinary people.  They struggled with daily life as most of us do.  They tried to do their best as most of us do.

Lately I have been working on my mom's side of the family.  They are a mysterious lot.  They peek out on a census and then disappear.  They have names like George and Tom and their last name is Smith!

Mom lost track of her brothers after she got married.  You must remember when she was a little girl the depression was on and her brothers went to work  on WPA projects.  World War II further separated the family.

Yesterday I had two moments.  I found the headstone of one of her brothers and I finally found the Social Security Death Record of the other.

You might think that this is only a sad tale.  Two brothers found only after death.  It is NOT.  It IS the completion of a desire to have knowledge.  Knowledge good or bad about them, her brothers.

This search has brought me closer to my mother than I could ever imagine.  Each photo, each scrap of paper has a story and she knows them all.  She tells me them has she holds those little pieces of her past with tears in her eyes and a frog in her throat.  She tells me about them with a twinkle in her eye and laugh over a good time remembered.  She tells me the story that is the fabric of OUR LIVES.

I can not tell you what a blessing it is to still have Mom around, to share my finds with her and my frustrations over another dead end.

Yesterday I stood for her at her brothers grave and shed tears for a man that I only know through her.  Thanks Mom.

The disconnected...connected People

Cynthia had an appointment with the Orthodontist. It is very modern.  All the office and every aspect is linked through a network.  They have you sign in on the computer which lets the techs know you are there for your appointment.  Only this morning they were in day two of switching to new software.  Every computer was in updating mode and the staff had to do things the old fashion way.  It was painful to watch.

It was interesting in the waiting room.  There were about 12 of us waiting.

As parents and patients arrived and took their seats each reached into a bag or pocket and brought out a cellphone or some other electronic device.  There was one mother, who actually had a paper magazine.  What a pariah!

So there we were all in the same room, no one talking to each other.  Some were texting, some playing games, some reading an ebook, and some surfing the web.

Cynthia and I play words with friends.  Even though we are in the same room we send our answers over the wi-fi.

With all the texting that goes on spelling and punctuation have suffered greatly.  Few touch type unless on a full keyboard.  Touch typing is a lost art.  Kids type with thumbs only and some are faster than "Mavis the Typing Tutorial."

All this new technology was suppose to bring us closer and connect us in ways never imagined.  I am not sure that it has accomplished its goal, or may-be it has.

I know it is great to use "face time" to watch the grand-kids while talking on the phone.  I love the games that keep me occupied for hours.  I think it is wonderful to take as many books with me as I want on an electronic device.  In fact, I have my books synced over 5 devices.  Over kill, but I always have something to read with me no matter what device I may have with me.

The sad thing is that when in a restaurant it breaks my heart to see couples on their phones and talking and not saying a word to each other.  They could do that home.

What I do know is that Dick Tracy would be amazed.

Burnt Sugar Cake and Helicopters

From the day that we married Michael has asked me to find the recipe for Burnt Sugar Cake.  I have looked and looked and have been unable to find it.  It seems that his mother made this cake when he was a boy.  I know it is hard to think of Michael as a boy, but he was and he really wants this cake.  His sister has looked through his mother's recipes and no luck.

Well, the worm has turned.  Seems that while my mother was volunteering at a library she found in the throw away basket a cookbook.  The Mennonite Community Cookbook to be exact.  When she opened the book, it opened to a recipe for Burnt Sugar Cake!

Ready to Frost

The Final Touches

So Cynthia and Mom made the cake and Mom and I made the Brown Sugar Boiled Frosting....I can still taste it. 

Not to be left out Michael and Dad decided to play with Michael's new Remote Controlled Helicopter.  Trust me watching them was like watching two five year olds let loose in a candy store.  They both had grins from ear to ear.

Reading the directions was like reading the translation from Chinese for Mah Jongg.  They made no sense.  These were translated from Chinese also.  I think they used the same translator.

They actually read the directions

Then got a consultation

Possible lift off!

 It was a full afternoon.

There Is Dirt Under My Fingernails

I have spent the last 10 years living on a sailboat.  While on the boat full-time I never felt the need to get my hands in the dirt.  I wasn't one of those cruisers that had a little herb garden on the deck or under the bimini.

Even while in the marina I never once felt the urge to help plant flowers or herbs.  I was content with my watery ways.

Now I have a very little piece of land in the desert and I want to plant everything.  Containers work well here.  But with every little flower planted I wonder, "How will I leave?  Who will water them?"  This can't be good.  Does this mean that my anchor is finding a new home?

I miss my boat and anchoring out and riding in the dinghy.  It is very strange to not be "there".  I find myself living through friend's Facebook posts and Blogs.  I dream about sailing and tasting salt in the air.   But in reality I damn the wind that is drying out my plants and scan the sky for any rain cloud.

Transition is hard.  But the flowers are beautiful.

First Rose

Rose Bloom

Blowing in the Wind

And She Cooks!

Cynthia has shown an interest in cooking.  I am thrilled.  This means that she will start to cook and I can have a day off.  Though I really like cooking.

Zin Zen Chicken

Rice in a Chicken and Wine Broth

For Christmas Cynthia got a Rachel Ray Cookbook.  It has pictures so that you know what the food is suppose to look like when you are preparing the meal.

Her first meal was Zin Zen Chicken.  Wow!  It was tasty, well prepared and I think that she enjoyed it.  In fact, she is now preparing dinner every Wednesday.  I am enjoying looking at recipes with her and shopping and watching her learn new techniques.

Plating

Papa eating!

Another upside of this is that I have engaged in a life-style change.  That is fancy terminology for "Dieting".  Started a food journal and bought a bicycle for exercise.  I am dropping some pounds and I feel better.  Cynthia is a tough task master and an inspiration to keep on keeping on!

Stop Blaming McDonalds

I just finished reading the study done by  New York University.  The article states that just because we put calorie count labels on fast food, McDonald's in particular that kids don't pay attention to them.  It is not until the end of the article that they answered my first question.  Where are the parents?  Apparently they are right there buying the Happy Meals.

I am NOT fat.  I AM OBESE!  That is what my scales say and that is what my doctor tells me.  Because of that fact I am increasing my risk for High Blood Pressure, Diabetes, Cancer, Cardiovascular Disease, and Stroke.  All of the above mentioned health issues run in my family.

I wish I could blame McDonald's.  I can't.  I don't eat there.  I am not a snacker.  I cook most of our meals and watch what we eat and what goes into the meals.

Genetically I am at risk.  However, the real issue is that I drink!  Lots of empty calories in those beers and that wine.  I have friends that drink more or as much as I do.  Some of them don't eat.  I can't or won't give up food.  I love it too much.  I should cut down on the alcohol.

Not only do I drink, I don't get up off my ass enough!

So there is no one to blame but me.  The government can put all the labels on food that they want.  They can tell me how bad alcohol can be and how good exercise can be.  Nothing will change, until I change.

The ball is in my court now!

Personal Courage

We just got back from watching The King's Speech.  I am blown away.

Yes, it is very British.  It is the British at their best.  Stiff upper lip you know.  Truly though, we forget that these were real people facing incredible world crisis.

Here is "Bertie" the Duke of York that has a terrible stutter.   His brother, the heir to the throne is enamored with Wallace Simpson, the American soon to-be- divorcee.

It must have been terrible lonely to always be the second son.  The one that the nanny didn't like.  The one that was just suppose to be just a Naval Officer.  It didn't matter at that point that you couldn't put two words together.  Now suddenly you are to be KING!

George VI, was not just King.  He was a man troubled and tortured by the lack of familial love.  The treatment of his brother and King George V was heartless, but that was what was expected.  Just be a man and talk!

The truth of the story though is the FRIENDSHIP that develops between the soon-to-be-King and Lionel Logue.  Lionel is a self taught speech pathologist.  Lionel knows that all the mechanical exercises will not truly help Bertie.  It is only when we face the emotional damage that we can begin to heal.

What a difficult task to break down the barriers of royalty and commoner.  Because of the courage of these two men, England survived the war.  But most importantly two men forged a life long friendship that crossed all class lines.

We should all be lucky enough to have a Lionel Logue in our lives.

I'm Just Looking Around....

My time on the boat is fast ending.  I have completed the major tasks and now am down to the final wipe here and there.

Trying not to buy to much of anything as I will just have to give it away.

Most of the boats have left for the salt water and with everyone that I witness leaving the dock a little piece of me goes with them.

But this is not my year to go sailing.  This is my year to get my husbands and my health back in order.  This is the year to re-evaluate what is important. The year to continue the search for ancestors and to celebrate the new grand-children in our lives.

I hate letting go.  I am not very good at it.  I tend to want to be angry when I leave or let go.  Seems to make it easier at the time.

We have had a good run of 10 years on the boat.  And we may still have a season left in us.  That is the plan.  So as I put the boat to bed and look around I am reminded of the drinks and meals shared aboard her.  Sitting at the table with waypoints to put in and double check.  That last little bit of fresh veg just before you cast off.  The hours of school work that Cynthia did at the nav. station.  Watching energy consumption and running the generator for power. Lower and raising the dinghy.  Hoping the outboard will start.  Jumping in the water to cool off.  The hours of Mah Jongg in anchorages that were rolly and we were waiting for weather.

So on Tuesday when I get on that tube called an airplane I will be a little sad.  But I will also be full of hope.  Hope for the next year and the one after that.  Hope that we get to travel a little in our land home on wheels.  Hope that we all see each other again.