Bryce has been my rock and has stood by me through the past eight weeks of agony.  He has been there when I wanted to talk about it; he has helped me when I wanted to forget and just have fun.  And I know that he has had his own personal hell dealing with my perceived future absence in his life.  So today when the doctor gave us the good news that my blood test results are now normal, we both let out a collective sigh of relief and went out to celebrate life again.  Yes, I think the power of love helped here–I know it sounds corny, but I believe it is true.  Thank you, Bryce, for all your love!

Helen   –06/22/10

Yesterday we hurried to Greensboro to meet the newest addition to our family.  He’s a cute little peanut with a full head of dark hair.  He looks so much like his older brother, Andrew, who just celebrated his fifth birthday on Thursday.  In fact, Sunday we were supposed to celebrate Andrew and my birthdays at my brother and sister-in-laws house.  Andrew was born the day after my 60th birthday and now Alec is born two days after Andrew’s  5th birthday (June 2, 3, and 5).  So next year we will have quite a rousing party!  But this year we took the party to the hospital, birthday cake and all!  What a lovely little surprise!

Helen– 06/07/10

   It is always hard to get dockage on a holiday weekend and our generator decided to die, which meant that if we didn’t want to roast and be conservative with power while sitting on anchor in Silver Lake, we better leave very, very early in the morning.  So yesterday morning we got up at 3:15 and left our dock a half hour later.  We noticed that the wind was blowing much harder than the weather forecast had predicted, but heck, we are a blue water boat and should be fine.

  When we got out in the middle of the river and put the boat on autopilot, the chart-plotter kept trying to send us back to Oriental.  Bryce had to keep re-programming it, probably about three times.  Then it started to get choppy and the boat was taking lots of blue water over the bow.  We had the windshield wipers going so we could see where we were heading, I was holding the dog in my lap so she would not fall and get hurt with the motion of the boat as she slammed down on waves, we were taking in some water on the galley floor from water being shipped into the dorades, and our power cord that we had coiled up on the bow was perilously shifting around and in danger of falling overboard and fouling the prop.  In addition, the motion of the boat made it difficult to fix breakfast, so Bryce and I nibbled on granola bars.  But as we looked at the radar and listened to the VHF radio conversations from other boats also on their way to Ocracoke, we realized that we were going to be at the head of the pack (of sailboats, anyway) and would most assuredly get dockage.  The boat was flying at 7.5 knots in spite of beating into the wind on engine alone.

 Then as we left the river and got into the Pamlico Sound, the boat’s motion got worse and although we knew that we could make it, we asked ourselves if we were having fun—definitely not!  I admit, I am a fair weather sailor—I don’t like putting my body into a washing machine on the spin cycle.  So we turned the boat around and headed back up river (I think our autopilot and chart plotter were right when they tried to do this earlier!).

 So here we are in beautiful Beaufort, tied up to the town docks and loving every minute of it!  Sometimes Plan B is the better plan.

 Helen –05/29/10

I have to admit that my compulsive nature helps me to stay on task and get the job done. I even get into the Zen of just scraping and letting my mind rest. This certainly has its pluses. I also enjoy seeing the fruits of my physical labor- I can stand back and see how much I accomplished. This is so different than what I do as a therapist during the week. I may work with a child for several weeks or even months before a real change is noticeable. 

Tomorrow we will begin to re-paint our boat’s bottom.  I know I will let the Zen of painting take over and I will periodically stand back and admire our handiwork.  Not until we finish will I feel the aches and pains that my muscles and joints are sending out.

Helen–04/10/10

Friday morning at 10:30 we arrived at the NC Aquarium at Indian Beach, nestled on a narrow spit of the island between Bogue Sound and the Atlantic Ocean. Andrew happily ran from one exhibit to the next, relishing all the varieties of fishes and other sea life on display in huge tanks. At times I wished I were on roller skates to keep up with him! I’m sure the divers in the shark tank was his favorite exhibit.

After lunch at a local diner, we headed to Beaufort to see the boats and pirate treasures at the Maritime Museum. Then back on the magical ferry again for our ride across the river.

Yesterday the weather was sunny but decididly much cooler with blustery winds that made it feel more like winter than early spring. We had to forego the dinghy ride because of a “small craft advisory”, so instead we took Mitzie-Sue, our little Yorkie, to the Oriental Pet Parade. Now the folks in this town are very serious animal lovers and I have yet to meet anyone who does not own at least one dog. It seemed like everyone in town showed up with their pooches, some dressed up in lavish costumes to match the owners, others more creative, such as the two large labradors in stripped prisoner outfits dragging a ball and chain while the owner was attired in police uniform. Just watching all the novel entries was entertainment enough, but of course this would not be Oriental if they did not have prizes for a variety of categories, like “most unusual”, “cutest”, “looks most like owner”, etc. Andrew had a wonderful time parading our “little princess” in her black and pink princess shirt that stated “Princess is not just a word, but an attitude”. Of course the competition was pretty stiff with over a hundred entries and we did not win a prize. This did not hurt Andrew’s feelings, but he kept reassuring Mitzie that she should not be sad and that he would bring her a toy from the pet store the next time he saw her. We kept telling him that Mitzie didn’t understand and she was alright, but our sweet little boy wanted to make her feel better!

Saturday afternoon we dyed Easter eggs and then grandpa Bryce got to show Andrew his helicopter. We fly the chopper (all 12 inches of it) in a large bath-house at the marina. Since grandpa hadn’t flown it in a year, it took him a few minutes to get the hang of getting it airborne without crashing. Andrew took great delight in watching the show but never once asked to fly it (of course, he has one at home, too–that’s where Bryce got the idea a couple of Christmases ago).

Yes, a good time was had this weekend by all participants! I must admit, it is so much more fun being a grandma than a mother–you can spoil them rotten and then hand them back to their parents. “You don’t want to eat your eggs for breakfast? OK, how about a brownie?” No problem nibbling on your chocolate rabbit five minutes before supper-time. A bag of chips before lunch–why not? Yes, we let our grandchildren break all those sacred rules that our own children had to follow. After all, we want to be remembered for all the fun stuff–yes, being a grandparent is my reward for all those years of parenting!

Helen- 03/28/10

We left at 7:00 a.m. just as the sun was beginning to rise over the horizon–a beautiful sunrise with the promise of a perfect day. And really we could not have ordered a more perfect day for the end of March and the first day of spring. The day dawned with clear blue skies and the promise of warm, sweet air. We had not a cloud in the sky all day.

We arrived at the New Bern Grande Marina at 10:30 and tied up on the seawall in front of some pretty huge motor yachts worth many millions. By 11:00 we were strolling through the farmers market and sampling the relishes, brownies, and chutneys while eying all the sundry wares for sale. We spied a roof-top restaurant that looked like it was opening and snagged a table that gave us a bird’s eye view of the downtown, harbor and marina. It felt wonderful to have ole mister sun shining on my winter-starved skin again. After a leisurely lunch we strolled around town visiting our favorite shops and just enjoying being outdoors minus hats and coats.

We returned to our vessel about 3:00 and curled up for a snooze in the cockpit. I awoke 45 minutes later to a good stiff breeze and the sounds of lots of water craft buzzing around the river. Where was that wind this morning when we could have aired out our sails? 

Mitzie, our little Yorkie, and I enjoyed a leisurely stroll along the waterfront park. It seemed like everyone in New Bern was there, either walking, playing ball with their kids, fishing off the seawall,or just sitting and enjoying the 75 degree warmth. What a perfect day! We followed our walk with a chilled glass of chardonnay in the cockpit (that is, the humans, of course). I wanted to enjoy every last bit of the sunshine and blue skies.

This morning we left the dock in New Bern again around 7 a.m. as the sun was rising, but there was more chill in the air and more clouds in the sky. However, once again, the wind gods had over-slept and there was not a zepher to sail on. The morning proved to be mainly cloudy, with a tease of sunshine now and then. Returning to our home dock at 10:30 I felt happy to have had this nice mini-vacation–at last!
Helen

So I took our little Yorkie, Mitzie-Sue, for a walk down the dock to the other side of the marina. It felt good to be out in the sun even if the wind still had a bit of winter’s bite. I love to see what other people are doing on their boats- call it a bit of rubber-necking. And of course there are always people to talk to. Dog-walking always seems to act as a people magnet for other dog-lovers. Today I stopped and talked to a lady who had to euthanize her golden retriever two years ago and is still anguished by the experience. We shared our mutual grief about loving a dog and then having to watch them get old, frail and sick, and eventually having to part with them. I don’t think it ever becomes easy. We have had to do that four times over the past 25 years. It seems so unfair that we adopt our dogs as little helpless pups and in a brief span of 10 to 15 years they become old and die.

Mitzie-Sue will be fourteen in June and I know she is slowing down. She used to love to go on long walks and pull me down the street with her compact 8-pound body. Now she wants to go out just to potty and pulls to get back to the boat. She has arthritis and takes pills for the pain; she sleeps 23 out of 24 hours, it seems; she doesn’t play much with her toys anymore. I have toyed with the idea of getting another Yorkie puppy but I think it might just be an annoyance for her. So maybe I’ll just let her enjoy her life in her own fashion and cherish days like today when she seems to take some pleasure in going for a short walk and standing out in the warm sunshine. You know, maybe that is what life is really all about anyway–just enjoying what you can each day.

Helen 03/06/10

Now you need to understand that Bryce and I consider this boat our real home, even though we have a nice enough house in Cary. Our boat is our mutual passion and we treat her lovingly and with much care. She is spoiled and given all sorts of expensive up-dates, repairs, and even a few real luxuries. We spend far more dollars on her maintenance than we would ever consider spending on our house. In fact, the house has always played second fiddle to this boat. We don’t flinch about the cost of hauling her out of the water annually and treating her bottom to a thousand dollars worth of paint or installing a several thousand dollar generator. But even mention painting a bedroom or installing granite kitchen counters at home, and the idea would not even be worthy of a second thought–after all, who could afford that?

Yes, our boat is our home sweet home! Nothing is too good for her. We are her servants and her guests. She has protected us, given us shelter, and taken us to lovely places most people living in a house only dream about. Helen 02/26/10

Last night was a crazy wild ride to get here before the predicted snow storm arrived.  We knew for at least 24 hours that it was coming.  Now most folks would have just made the logical decision to stay home, since roads in NC can become pretty bad rather quickly when the white stuff arrives (we don’t have the road-clearing equipment that other states farther north use).  But not us!  No, we have this obsession with our boat.  We really get antsy when we have to spend many days away from her.  So we decided to go anyway, given about a three hour window of time before the forecasters said the storm would arrive.  About ten minutes outside of Oriental, the windshield picked up a few flakes and by the time we got here it was snowing big wet flakes.  This morning everything was covered with this soft, thick blanket of snow.  Yes, a perfect day to get cozy in the cabin, hunker down, and make a big pot of slowly simmering lamb shanks in an orange anise gravy.  Perhaps I’ll sit here a bit longer and watch the snow, then curl up with a good book and even take an afternoon nap.  Life is very good!

Helen– 02/13/2010

Danny had a good life.  He always got treats.  He was the dog that would bark and beg for goodies, and of course, his sister always got some too, because after all, parents can’t play favorites, right.  Danny and Mitzie had a wardrobe of clothes that would make any diva jealous…matching pink and blue harnesses and leashes; matching pink and blue sweaters; matching turquoise rain slickers; brown bomber jackets with imitation sheepskin collars; the black Harley shirts; etc.  Yes, both dogs were treated well.

Two months ago, at the age of twelve, Danny started to get sick.  He couldn’t keep food down.  An expensive four days in the vet hospital with lots of tests and x-rays revealed that he had pancreatitis, kidney, bladder, and gall stones, arthritis in his spine, nodules in his spleen and gastritis.  After much reading on the net, I began making him home-made doggie food with lean chicken, brown rice and vegetables.  Danny loved this food and inhaled it in record time.  He started to look pretty good and the extra vitamins and salmon oil that I added made his coat shine.  Yes, it looked like we had our ole Danny back again!  But this past Sunday he seemed to have trouble walking, falling over a lot crab-walking to one side.  He also would not drink any water–not good.  On Monday we put him back in the vet hospital and were told that he probably had a stroke or maybe more than one.  Danny did not improve over the past few days.  The outlook was grim.  I didn’t feel I should take him home and watch him die from dehydration or another stroke.  So Bryce and I, with much pain in our hearts, made the decision to preserve his dignity and end his suffering.

I like to imagine that his little soul is free now and he is barking and running after all those big dogs that have gone before him.  Good-bye my dear and faithful friend–you will always be remembered and loved.

Helen