What’s in a name anyways? This boat is sitting on the hard at our marina; one of the last boats still out of the water. Most boats, like people have a story. I wonder why “Dogfish”; what would possess someone to choose such a name? I’d love to hear that story!We've been very busy with life lately as well as continuing our work on Gypsy. Susan’s daughter flew is from Guatemala via Mexico for a visit and they’ve been busy conducting tag sales in between home showings. I sanded & polyurethaned all the wooden floors in my house. I also met with a realtor yesterday and that went well. I want to meet with at least one more before I put the house on the market which might happen next week.
I worked on Gypsy all Sunday and didn't want to come back at the end of the day. I really love being on the water. I managed to get the solar wiring laid out and hope to pick up the tinned wire I need this weekend and start installing the charge controller, monitor, shunt, battery sensor and breakers for the system. Quite a science project.
Everything seems to be happening very fast now. I wish it would slow down some but I don't seem to have that kind of control. Feels a bit like the end of one's last year of high school, the heady time just before graduation. I've told my boss I'm retiring (he's jealous) and have an appointment with HR to work out the details. This is a good time for me to leave work as things are slow with the lagging economy. I'm taking the test for the Ham Radio General license tonight. I have a ham Technicians license (prerequisite for taking the General test) and want to get the General ticked so that I can have complete access to all Ham frequencies.
The replacement LED Tri color masthead light from OGM finally arrived and I hope to get that installed this weekend. I also received the modem for the Ham/SSB radio so there’s that to hook up too when I get a chance.
Condensing my life into boat size proportions continues to be an interesting process. Going through all my stuff; scanning old photographs, Craig's List, Free Cycle and giving stuff to friends. I've also been dreaming like mad lately. I figure that I must be sorting through things in my head at the same time I’m sorting out what's in my basement. A couple of nights ago I had what seemed like a very intense and lengthy dream session. I woke up after what felt like a full night's sleep only to discover that only forty-five minutes had passed. The whole rest of the night went that way; tons of dreams and me waking every hour thinking that "it must be time to get up".
I’ve often been intrigued by what I think of as physical metaphors; things in the physical world that represent and seem to be connected with things in the psychological and energetic realms. So as I sift through all my life's possessions in the process of letting go, I seem to be doing the same thing with the thoughts and memories in my subconscious mind. Krishna Das once said that the “letting go” muscle is the most powerful one we’ve got. I’ve been giving mine quite a lot of exercise lately.
Another development has also been taking place. As my preparations progress for this journey I'm feeling increasingly alive and vital; colors more vivid, smells seem richer, my dealings and interactions with people more meaningful and deeper while at the same time I've been feeling a greater sense of peace and contentment. I'm also increasingly aware that all things are "all good", just different. I wish I could slow this process down and enjoy it more but that doesn't fit with all that we have to get done by our November 1st departure date.
138 days
