Bare feet and short sleeves

A few posts ago I mused about bare feet and short sleeves still being off in the distance. Kintala has covered a bit of distance since then. Well, a bit of distance at sailboat speeds anyway, and has settled into No Name Harbor for a couple of days. My feet are bare. My sleeves are short. We have even retired the heavy quilt, taking it off the the v-berth and storing it away. The rising temperatures, mostly blue skies, and definitely clearer water, have done much to lift the mood on our old Tartan. Sometimes it is hard to tell just how deep the hole is until one has climbed much of the way to the top.

We are, as has become the routine on this journey south, waiting out the passing of another cold front. There are hopes this one will slip by without the drama of tornado warnings and 60 knot wind gusts. The last one caught the weather gurus so flat-footed that they are being very careful with the forecasts. The Deep Weather discussions are full of debate, it is kind of fun to read. Here are experts, people as deeply steeped in the discipline of weather as anyone has ever been, who are smarting a bit from having be slapped around by their own hubris. Something that should happen to everyone once in a while.

It is a regular occurrence for sailors and pilots. Both routinely see their plans fade away in the face of oncoming weather. It is hard to boast that “I am the master of my fate” when one sits for a couple of days waiting to get across Biscayne Bay, or a couple of weeks before getting a good window for crossing the Gulf Stream. (We could cross Biscayne Bay, but would rather sit out the weather in the protection of No Name than riding it out in the exposed Dinner Key mooring field.) A touch of humility and a dash of humor goes a long way toward making life easier. Both are gifts that kind of go together, ones we can enjoy ourselves and share with those around us at the same time. They are the opposites of arrogance and sarcasm, which also kind of go together, and are the more likely to be shared for those of us who live in the US of A.

Bare feet and short sleeves, humility and humor...they all seem to go together pretty well in the world of blue sky, clear water, and warm temperatures.

It is good to be back in Biscayne Bay.