Yes, It's New Years In New England
(Photo taken of my step-son, Reid, this past weekend; if you could read his mind he might be saying, "Just let the old guy on twin sticks try to keep up with me this time.")
It's a New Year in New England and while the snow is scarce, winter is here. My fellow bloggers at Write On The Water who hail from the south have been taking advantage of the season to articulate their water-borne New Year's resolutions, so let me join the crowd. Here goes:
Wooden boat resolution #1: This year the boat gets launched on May 1st. Each year I write this launch date on my boatyard contract, but this year it's really going to happen. I had always assumed that the folks at the marina posted my contract on the office bulletin board because my old wooden sailboat had some kind of priority standing. Then, last year, someone let it slip that the May 1 date was, in fact, a source of shared office humor. Well, that will be the case no more. This Spring that baby goes in fully varnished, complete with freshly painted top sides and bottom, and new non-skid on the cabin top, and if you want to celebrate Cinco de Mayo with me I'll be in the cockpit at mooring #80.
Wooden boat resolution #2: If the lottery ticket thing doesn't pan out and I am once again left doing the boat maintenance chores myself, I'm petitioning for a July 4th observance of Cinco de Mayo.
Sailing resolution #1: This year I set sail for the far horizon. (Fortunately, this isn't all that far when you calculate for the the curvature of the earth.)
Sailing resolution #2: I will return from the far horizon. (Note to self: renew annual membership for Tow Boat US.)
Writing resolution #1: Publish my new Steve Decatur book, Devil's Bridge, before March 21.
Writing resolution #2: Capture a promotional video clip of me waterskiing behind our sailboat. Don't worry, I've got this one all figured out: my step-son, at the wheel of our little Whaler, gets me up and going, I get a quick hand-off to a second tow-line set to the sailboat which is underway with my wife at the tiller. Meanwhile, a third willing participant captures this with a video camera. I figure the resulting output will go viral thereby promoting book sales. Maybe even more so if the stunt goes the way predicted by the naysayers in our house.
So there they are. And Happy New Year to all, one full of carefully considered resolutions.
Lastly, some of you may have heard we are lacking snow up here in New England. While this is true, the skiing has been better than you might expect as seen by the short video below, which I recorded on the evening of December 31, 2011. What started as a fire ball at the top of the mountain became a stream of skiers, red flares in hand as they serpentined to the base lodge.
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Click below to watch the video clip
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