Saturday, June 7, 2008

Jan' Paint by Words Friday, June 6, 2008

Hello to all my friends, in laws, out laws, sister (Dawna), daughters with other halves (Christina & Desere and Julie & Josh), brother (Curtis), and everyone reading! It's very special for us on board to receive your messages. Thank you Steve, Dawna, (several times, especially the last one. You were in my thoughts during that first watch too), Todd & Sherry, Kris, and Karen. So everyone, please write! If you want to send something private and personal, go ahead - no one will read it . . . except any one who reads these blogs!
Monica (Chuck' niece), I thought about you last night during my watch. It was very dark; everyone was in their bunks. The ten hundred ka-trillion and one (seems like there are more every night) stars were out. The 2-day new moon was low on the horizon, sending a freeway wide river of moon reflection on the ocean from its self to the boat. I was standing on the bench behind the helm, just to starboard side, holding the back stay with my left hand, and my right hand was balancing in the wind. Cirrus was slicing thru the waves at 7.5 knots and heeled over just the same as we were when you were driving 'Wind Watcher' (Chuck's and my boat). Monica, you were in your element the and were really enjoying it. I felt like it wasn't the auto pilot steering, but your spirit was here steering. Master Of The High Seas!!!!
In case any one was wondering, I went my whole morning watch without getting splashed in the face. Yeah!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Jan,
Another happy day! I get on the blog and there is once again another "paint by word". I love, love, LOVE to hear from you!
Since you said that no one will read what I put on the blog, I feel safe telling you another story. Here it is:
A group of Skippers are walking through town looking for crew, when they see a five-story building with a sign that read, "Crew Association: Ship’s Crew Available". Since they are without their crews, they decide to go in. The Security Guard, a very salty type, explains to them how it works. "We have five floors. Go up floor by floor and once you find what you are looking for, for crew, you can go there and make a selection. It's easy to decide since each floor has a sign telling you who's inside."
Everything seems wonderful, so they start going up and on the first floor the sign reads, "All the crew on this floor are beginners." The skippers laugh, and without hesitation move on to the next floor. The sign on the second floor reads, "All the crew here are experienced, smart but weak."
Still, this isn't good enough, so the Skippers continue on up. They reach the third floor and the sign reads, "All the crew here are experienced, smart and strong." They still want to do better, and so, knowing there are still two floors left, they kept going. On the fourth floor, the sign is perfect, "All the crew here are experienced, smart, strong and Former Pacific Cup Champions." The Skippers get excited and are about to go in when they realize that there is still one floor left.
Wondering what they are missing, they head up to the fifth floor. There they find a sign that reads, "There are no crew here. This floor was built only to prove that there is no way to please a Skipper!" (end of story)
Love, Dawna

Anonymous said...

Hi Jan,

Ah, the stars, the new moon, the green flashes, it all sounds great!

I think Monica will be ready to sail when you get back...be sure to bring the nice weather with you...it was very cool today, rainy and windy, more like March than June...

Karen