Monthly Archives: May 2015

Family, Friends and Florida (May 3-10, 2015)

[My irascible laptop has been behaving badly and was with an IT tech so today is the first day I’ve had it in a while].

The boys have not had Legos in almost six months. I tell them they can spend their money on some big sets

The boys have not had Legos in almost six months. I tell them they can spend their money on some big sets

The boys and I are enjoying time with my sister and her family. The twins are adorable and the boys are having fun with their two cousins. We are in the downstairs suite and it feels heavenly. I continue to revel in land’s luxuries: dishwashers, a Vitamix, ice cubes, hot showers, laundry in a house, a queen size bed with multiple pillows (absolute heaven).

Signs of spring

Signs of spring

Matt, in the meantime, is working on getting the boat ready. The crew arrive Thursday and Friday. The plan is to get the boat to Annapolis where we’ll do repairs and aesthetics on it and get it ready to sell. Because our Cleveland place won’t be ready until July 5th or so, we look into renting in Annapolis for 6 weeks. It’s been chaotic with all the kids and babies so Matt does some legwork. He sends me a link to a condo. It looks nice but, when I try to scroll through the pictures, my iPad crashes. The next morning he calls and

My friend Susan and the boys collecting rocks

My friend Susan and the boys collecting rocks

asks me what I think. I’m hesitant because it doesn’t have a garage where we can unload stuff and my iPad crashed when I tried to view it. I weigh this against having some certainty about where we’ll be and tell Matt to just book it and pay so we can have one thing off our list. He calls me later that day and says that after he filled out all the information and was about to hit ‘submit’ his laptop crashed. Weird – a sign from the Universe? We decide not to book it and instead wait until we get to Annapolis.

Joshua with the rock

Joshua with the rock

On Thursday, the boys and I head back up to Burlington, VT to see a friend and visit the town again. I love it here. We go to several parks, do some hiking, and get green shakes at a great café. My friend takes us to the edge of Lake Champlain where we spend time building cairns and collecting rocks. She finds a cool one she decides to send to a friend. On the way out, she drops it. Then drops it again. I start laughing because it seems the rock doesn’t want to leave. She picks it up and realizes it split in half. It takes us a while to find the other

The heart in the tree

The heart in the tree

half. When we do, we realize it split in two identical halves – black with a band of white quartz. She sees Joshua eyeing it and asks if he wants it. He nods. I know immediately what he’s thinking. He has been looking for something special to leave on Caleb’s headstone. “I’ll keep the other half with me,” he says quietly. A few minutes later, Malachi points to a tree where a sawed-off branch has left the shape of a heart. We all pause to take this in. We leave the park, uplifted in a different kind of way.

The Earth Clock in Burlington, VT

The Earth Clock in Burlington, VT

On Saturday we drive back to NH. En route, Matt calls and says the storm that has been hanging off the east coast is finally moving. Tashtego and crew are leaving in two hours. It’s a quick phone call – just enough time to say we love you and good luck. I tell him, no matter what, to listen to his intuition during the passage and not be swayed by anyone else on the boat.

[I just saw Matt posted the news on Facebook. I’ll let you know the details tomorrow].

Going Our Separate Ways (April 26-May 2, 2015)

Spanish moss

Spanish moss

We move the boat up to St. Augustine on Tuesday afternoon, an easy half day in the ICW, and dock at a marina. We have an afternoon and a day until the boys and I fly to NH. I tell the boys I want them to shower before we leave on our trip. Malachi wants to walk up to the marina and shower before breakfast. I say the rule is that he has to have a buddy. He asks Joshua to go but Joshua wants breakfast first. “I can’t wait until I’m a teenager,” Malachi complains. “Then I won’t need a buddy and I can go places on my own.”

Part of the pirate ship

Part of the pirate ship

Joshua nods and says, “It’s better that way. Because if you get taken when you’re a teenager [abducted is what he means], Mom and Dad will already have had enough time with you.” Hmmm…. seven-year-olds have interesting logic. Probably the reason they are not allowed to run for public office. The boys and I spend hours packing things up, clearing out the boys’ berths and re-organizing provisions for Matt and the new crew. Joshua wants to know why he can’t go on this passage. Matt tells him he can be a stowaway and then has to explain what the word means. Later, as we finish packing, Joshua asks if I can help him find a place to hide on the boat. No is the simple response to that request.

Wearing their crowns at the May Day Festival

Wearing their crowns at the May Day Festival

On Wednesday morning we walk two miles into St. Augustine to see our Annapolis friends Dan and Jaye. They are part-time pirates on a replica of a Spanish cargo ship and Jaye gives us a tour. In the evening they come to our marina and meet us for dinner. I get the boys to bed a little early because we have to wake up at 4:15 am for our flight to NH. It’s an uneventful flight and we arrive in NH at 11:30 am. My sister picks us up, sans children. The

Dancing around the May Pole

Dancing around the May Pole

older two (4, 7) are in school and the 8-month-old twins are with the nanny. We immediately jump into the organized chaos of family life.

On Saturday, we attend the May Day Festival at the high school version of their Waldorf School. Think granola, hemp fabrics, communes and lots of Birkenstocks. Most of the boys have hair longer than mine. Even among this eclectic bunch, there are a few who have distinguished themselves further by adopting a Sikh lifestyle, changing their names, and wearing turbans. The boys make May Day crowns and adorn them with ribbons and flowers. There is a

Joshua, in royal attire

Joshua, in royal attire

parade and a ceremony with the high schoolers dancing and singing around the May pole, accompanied by a woman on an accordion. I later tell my sister it is one of the few high schools in the US where it is perfectly acceptable for 17-year-old males to prance around barefoot with flowers in their hair and bells on their ankles, waving scarves in the air. My sister’s husband doesn’t attend. When I tell him about the afternoon, he rolls his eyes. I’d love my boys to attend that kind of school. I would guess that if more schools had that type of curriculum, there’d probably be fewer wars.

As for Matt, he is still down in St. Augustine making progress toward the upcoming passage. Alexander the Great has committed as did one other person. The crew arrives either Thursday or Friday. Matt

Malachi holds up his stick sword in a menacing manner, perhaps not realizing that the three flowers in his hair detract from his fierceness.

Malachi holds up his stick sword in a menacing manner, perhaps not realizing that the three flowers in his hair detract from his fierceness.

was able to sell the kayak we bought used in St. John for only $50 less than we paid. Let’s hope selling the boat follows a similar trend.