Carpe Diem

You hear it all the time. Carpe Diem. Probably more in the sailing world because it's such an excessively abused boat name. You're told it means to get the most out of each day and, like  most clichés, it just rolls off your consciousness.  But humor me a moment and close your eyes and really think about what it means. Seize the day. Seize the day. Grab it by the balls and don't let go. Wring out of it every drop of life that's available. All the rich colors, flavors, textures, tantalizing smells, the look, the smile, the voice or the touch of a loved one. Because - and you hear it all the time again - you may only have today. This minute.

My oldest brother died yesterday. He was 67 and was expecting to go home from the hospital on Sunday after a heart valve repair surgery that went very well. He sounded great when I spoke to him on Saturday. He spoke of stopping on the way home to buy a new flat screen TV so he could watch some good movies while he rested. A blood infection downed him in less than 24 hours and yesterday he was gone.


Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "We are always getting ready to live but never living it."  Life is fragile and fleeting, so whatever your dream is, whether it's selling everything and going cruising, or hiking the Appalachian trail, or climbing Mount Everest, or opening your cafe, or writing your novel, stop preparing and start doing. Because looking back on the last couple years of cruising and knowing that if something happened we at least dared to tackle our dream - and realized it - is much better than finding suddenly that the time we thought we had was gone.

Bon voyage, bro, and happy sailing in the land beyond. We love you and miss you terribly already.