Looking Ahead

After a week in Indy getting to know new grandson Christopher, Deb and I had to bid a teary "good-by" to Kristin and Brian this morning and head back to St. Louis. (I'm getting better at good-byes. After dropping Amber, Mike, Catherine and Mary off at the Indy airport last week I stopped crying about the time I made Terre Haute. I hate saying good-by to my daughters.)

Anyway, on the way back from Indy we stopped by the marina to check on little Nomad. It has been several weeks since either of us have been on board and I was a bit curious as to how she was handling her first winter in the water in several years. I was also just missing being around the boat. She was floating contently in her slip, all covers secure, the normal amount of water in her bilge. I retied all the lines, reset a fender, put a charge on the batteries and generally poked around the boat for a while, but all appeared to be ship-shape.

We happened across Dennis (the owner of the marina) and good friend Barry (who even in the winter spends more than a few nights aboard his Albin 36) and ended up having an impromptu dinner party. The four of us sat around the clubhouse, enjoyed some really good food and conversation, with the boats rocking gently at the docks and the biggest full moon of the decade flooding the lake with light. It was a truly special way to bring an official end to our holiday / new grandson celebrations and travels. Truth be told, I'm looking forward to the new year settling down and getting under way. There is a list of projects to start tomorrow, new steering bearings for Deb's bike, a hardwood floor for the house, and a list of jobs to do on Nomad. Hopefully enough to do to make the remainder of the winter pass a bit quickly.