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Weather report

It's raining idiots.

And in other news....

Hey friends. Tomorrow begins another week of fun and excitement at work. Another peer review - three days of intense scrutiny of everything we're doing and how we're doing it - starting Monday afternoon. A state inspection Monday. A come to Jesus Monday with one of the major subs that's being a major dumbass. And the bosses are all here Tuesday for an executive summit to go over ISSUES. At least what issues there are perceived to be at the executive level. Owner, Architect, Contractor meeting Wednesday. PM, sub, and staff meetings Thursday, and the bi-weekly schedule update and review meeting is Friday. Oh, and we've got a job to run. Nice!

I spent a lot of my weekend at the jobsite doing paperwork and missed getting to Selma for Zeke's birthday and the "Living the Dream 2006" nonviolence orientation and march across the Edmund Pettus bridge. I have got to work on rearranging my priorities.

I went out with Susie Friday night, which was really cool.

I spent Saturday night on the boat, and dreamed about bigdogs, blue skies, and brown eyes.

Looking up at the stars through the companionway hatch Saturday night I wondered when I forgot the sweet pain of waiting for a phone call.

I made cuban coffee, cafecito, Sunday morning, and for the first time in my kitchen it came out really close to the real thing. I sipped it in the backyard in the company of a family of what I think were indigo buntings.

A few minutes after midnight on Friday I sat on the front steps, picking out a tune on the guitar and thinking about how lucky I am to be here.

Ella es tan hermosa

Ella quita la respiración cada vez yo la veo. Su risa vuelve mi alma a mi cuerpo, y su toque manda el corazón a las estrellas.

Good morning.....

There's this girl.....

That day started out just like every other workday for the past few years, you know. Got out of bed, went to work, shuffled some papers, made some phone calls. I had a meeting with the superintendents in the morning, and one with a new sub in the afternoon. Nothing out of the ordinary, and all but a few of the details of that day have dissolved into the grey....it was almost a year ago, after all. But one memory remains absolutely vivid, and I get the warm fuzzies each time I remember meeting that "new sub" that afternoon, and the surprise I felt when she kissed me there in the conference room. Wow.......for an instant my universe reduced to the warm softness of her lips, her silky hair brushing my face. Writing this today the memory of that instant comes back, and the soft cinnamon and vanilla fragrance of her hair is almost overwhelming.

And it was just a peck on the cheek. Normal business greeting here in south Florida....the business kiss. Same thing as a handshake, basically, but infinitely more civilized. It took me by surprise the first few times a woman, being introduced, leaned up to kiss me on the cheek. The first few times I left them hanging, which is as rude as not shaking a hand that's presented. Luckily one of the guys at work clued me in to the intricacies of the ritual, and although I'm not as smooth and graceful with this as some people, I am getting there.

Anyway, somehow I managed to get through the meeting that day without making a fool out of myself (I think!), and although I was just absolutely captivated by this woman I knew that, among other things, it would be inappropriate for me to act on my attraction to her because of the business relationship. I delegated contact with her to one of my project managers, and although I felt an electric charge grip my body every time I saw her on the site or got an e-mail from her, I forced myself to at least try to maintain a professional distance. Until recently.

Since Mikki and I split up a few years ago, I've actively resisted getting involved with another woman. I've had some dates, met some fairly interesting women, had some fun, but, you know, I was just going through the motions and honestly it was all about as satisfying as watching TV. And this is a pretty common story, I think, when a marriage breaks up. Like a lot of men do in this situation, I binged and then retreated and focused my energy on my work, where I at least felt like I could control things. I made a plan - work, save some money, get a boat, and be in a position to cast of the docklines and go chase the horizon by Feb. 1, 2009. I've kept to that plan, too, making damn sure I didn't get caught up in any emotional entaglements that could distract me from that plan.

And I'm not saying that I'm expecting or looking for anything like that now, but recently I've had, or made, maybe, more occasions to be in contact with this amazing woman. I asked her to lunch, and she said OK. We've talked on the phone a lot, and although I know almost nothing about her it feels like I've known her forever. She's smart, funny, independent, and for all I know she may just be being nice to me because that's her nature. I do know that she's kind and compassionate to stray animals. And if that's the case, I'll be crushed, I think, but that's OK.

So....we'll see what happens, huh?

Treasure!

Ahoy, Mateys! Batten down the hatches 'cause this old sea dog has just returned from a most pleasurable and rewarding adventure with me pirate mates Captain Roan and Skipper Pat. With a king's ransom in jewels and gold captured on Pirate's Nest Key we're planning our next adventure!


Roan discovered an ancient treasure map under the hurricane tree at the Crazy Cave, and we took it with us when we sailed off from Key Largo!




We landed on the north side of Pirate's Nest Key, and after a long search we finally located the X under a dead tree where Calico Jack Rackham had buried his treasure chest. Safely back aboard Reprieve we surveyed our take.




So, what's a pirate to do with all of this plunder?

Boat check

Hey - I looked at another boat this weekend, an Islander Freeport 41. Cool boat, in pretty good shape. Not a blue-water boat by any means, but one that would be OK for coastal cruising and tripping through the Caribbean. I have got to decide if I'm going to take on another construction project or take off an an adventure. Any thoughts?

Spirit

The eagle "Spirit" flies before the Auburn - Washington State football game in Auburn, Alabama on September 2, 2006. I went to the game with Pat, Carrie and Roan, and Billy, Natalie, Taylor & Connor, and had a blast. You can't see the eagle as it flies to midfield, but the sound of the crowd captures the "spirit" of the moment pretty well, I think.

Catching up....

It's been a little while since I posted. Been busy, you know? Went to the farm for the Labor Day weekend to see the fambly and go to the Auburn game. Been cracking the whip at work, and got to spend most of this weekend on Reprieve. Damn it was beautiful last night.....I slept in the cockpit under a nearly full moon, a gentle breeze from the east keeping the mosquitos away and cooling things off just right. About an hour before sunrise a fishing charter rumbled by and woke me up, so I got up, made a pot of coffee and watched the day begin. A pair of dolphins cruised by just as it was getting light, which I took as an invitation for a swim. They were long gone by the time I got in, of course, so I enjoyed the cool salty water in solitude. Re-ju-ve-nation, by god. Good for the soul.

There's a reassuring calm that comes to me from hanging out on the boat, a comfortable sense of belonging, feeling at rest and at home. Last weekend's trip to the farm gave me the same feeling. It was good to spend time with Dad & Judy and Pat & Carrie, and I almost got enough playtime with Roan to hold me until he and Pat come visit in October. It's never enough, of course. And Billy & Nat, and their two incredible kids, Taylor & Connor, met us in Auburn for the game and then came and spent Sunday at the farm. Those kids are a riot! We had the added bonus of seeing Russ & Caroline on Sunday, also....we've spoken on the phone some but I hadn't seen Russ in person in 15 years, maybe? Good to connect again, and good to meet Caroline for the first time.

I turned my camera over to Taylor on Sunday, and he took close to a thousand pictures. I managed to upload a few to Flickr.....check 'em out. The kid's got talent!

OK....it's past my bedtime and I've gotta get my happy ass in bed so I'll be rested, ready, and refreshed for another glorious and fulfilling week at the ol' jobsite.