Precarious

The step from the dock to our side deck is..well...appropriately sized for tall people. If the wind is out of the East (almost never) it blows the boat away from the dock out to the length of the springline which, due to the placement of dock cleats being for 27' boats not 42'boats, is more like an amidships line not a springline.  When you happen to be trying to negotiate said step with 2 bags of groceries or duffle bags of clothes or a heavy computer back pack, it can be kind of hairy, and before any of you say "duh" and suggest a dock step stool, we can't accommodate our vertically challenged guests with one because we're situated on the main dock and the dock carts are just wide enough for the dock which leaves no room for a dock step stool. 

Sometimes when you're taking that step and you're perfectly balanced for the boat to be 6" from the dock and then a gust tumbles down the hill and blows the boat to 12" from the dock, your balance becomes suddenly precarious.  There's that moment that seems to freeze in time where the upper foot is stretching away from the planted foot and you think to yourself, "If I fall in now I'll have to replace my computer.  Hmmmmm...new iPad..." and then the panic sets in.  You're neither on the dock nor on the boat, nor in the water, nor suspended in the air and for that one moment everything is as uncertain as it can get.

When you're in the middle of the 5-year plan the same feeling can overwhelm you at times.  You've already begun the downsizing of the land-based accommodations but you don't yet have everything on the boat.  When you're land-bound you wish you were on the boat.  When you're on the boat you try to finagle any way to stay there and not head back to land.  Land-bound responsibilities like jobs (curse the need for them anyway) keep yanking you back and threatening your commitment to step onto the boat.  I know the gust will give way and the boat will come gliding back under my upper foot, restoring my balance, but right now I feel like I'm hanging there in mid-air for what seems like an interminable time.