Love Odyssey

This past weekend was unusual for me. I spent the majority of my time not on boat projects but just on reading for pleasure. I bought a copy of Dan Brown’s latest book, “The Lost Symbol”. I have read all of his books because I learn so much from them and they always have a twist that is unexpected. This one was no exception. I loved it and could hardly put it down. Not only did I learn about the Order of the Masons, but I also got some good history and a tour of our nation’s capitol. In addition, I learned a new term, “noetics”, which refers to the science of using the mind to control events. Yes, a purely decadent weekend–and very enjoyable!

Helen –01/10/11

January always brings anticipation of a new year; a time to dream of what could happen in the coming twelve months. Bryce and I share many of the same dreams: Love Odyssey Cruises taking off; happiness and togetherness with family and friends; the completion of Bryce’s second book; watching our grandchildren grow. We hope for good health; financial prosperity; and time to sail our boat just for fun!

As we watched 2010 disappear we hoped for more joy in 2011. This past year had its share of heartache; our two beloved Yorkies had to be euthanized for health reasons; our family had a major upheaval; and the economy took a bite out of our practices. But today I look with hope on the new year. We have a new little Yorkie; we have two beautiful grandsons and a strong and loving family; our daughter who recently graduated is working full-time in her field of study; and all of our combined staff are happy and productive. So here’s a toast to 2011! May all of you have your dreams come true!

Helen — 01/03/11

Yesterday we had all the extended family over to our house for Christmas dinner and present opening. It’s always nice to see everyone and share in holiday cheer. This year we had our second grandson, Alec (born in June), as well as his five year old brother, Andrew. I’ve always felt that the holidays are more fun when there are young children around. Their wide-eyed wonder is so precious. And this year we got the added bonus of snow. Unfortunately the snow meant that those traveling any distance, such as our daughter from Greensboro, had to leave earlier than planned because of the road conditions.

Today we cleared away all the Christmas decorations and undressed the tree. We ate the left-overs for lunch. And we watched the snow as it fell gently from the sky. It was cozy being home and “snowed in”. Bryce spent the morning writing the second chapter of this next book and I took frequent breaks from cleaning and packing to play with our new puppy, Suzie-Q. I let her out on our deck for a just a minute so she could experience snow- she circled the deck twice in snow that was nearly as tall as she is. After a minute she came in shivering with little balls of snow sticking to her underbody hair. I guess nezt time I should put on her sweater! Later Bryce and I dug out the cars and cleared the front porch and walkway. Tonight we will eat a bean soup made with the bone from our Christmas ham. It’s been a good Christmas!

Helen– 12/26/10

Tomorrow is our 29th Wedding Anniversary. Tonight we are planning to cook some lobster tails and enjoy an appetizer of steamed oysters–all in the comfort of our lovely boat. No restaurant can hold a candle to the atmosphere in our pilothouse. We will chill some bubbly, turn on some George Winston, light a candle and enjoy our seafood.

After 29 years I don’t need to change out of my jeans and Bryce will wear his comfy knit shirt. I guess the word “comfy” pretty much describes our relationship now. We know about all the warts and flaws each other has and yet we choose to ignore them. We continue to revel in each other’s minds and that is where the attraction lies. Even after 29 years we continue to find each other fascinating. So tonight we will toast each other and our hope to live another 29 years as a couple.

Helen — 12/18/10

Every Year the town of Oriental holds a “Spirit of Christmas” weekend.  It usually starts with a boat parade on the river on Friday night followed by a lighting of the Christmas star and carroling at the town dock.  On saturday there are open houses at all the local businesses in town, including free food and drink, a live Nativity at the Methodist Church, cartoons and the reading of the Night Before Christmas in the Old Theater, a parade through town with Santa in a Coast Guard inflatable, and the lighting of the luminara at dusk.  We have enjoyed this tradition for many years, but never has it rained like today.

The sky is gray and the precipitation has been non-stop all day.  This morning we donned our foulie wear (yellow slickers) and ran from one shop to another, getting thoroughly wet in just seconds.  Ah, but the hospitality was as warm as ever and we certainly had pleanty to eat: donuts and coffee at the marine shop, cookies and hot mulled cider at marine consignment, a meaty stew at the hardware store, shrimp and nibbles at Croaker Town, and a hot dog with chilli at the yard sale.

But the big question lurking in everyone’s mind all morning was “Will the parade be cancelled due to the weather?”  Now you must understand that this parade contains about half of the people in town.  Yes, every boy scout, girl scout, kids on bikes, people walking big and little dogs in reindeer and elf garb, Austin mini club, antique cars and farm tractors, homemade floats decorated by local groups and churches, and of course, the Jolly Old Elf himself make up this parade.  This town is serious about parades.  Every Fourth of July there is a similiar parade (minus Santa, of course!).  So I have been told that “neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow” will deter the annual Christmas parade.

We plan to watch the parade this year from the window of Bryce’s office, nice and warm and dry, while it marches below us.  I have put together a few nibblies and Bryce has packed some spirits.  We have some good friends joining us and we will have a nice time in “The Spirit of Christmas”!

Helen  12/11/10

I’m not in the mood for the holiday season.  If I had my way, we would skip from Halloween to January.  Maybe it is because I have lived through too many Christmases and I am just jaded.  It seems every year that Christmas starts earlier and earlier.  I saw Christmas decorations go up at the mall the day after Halloween.  I am tired of hearing the same old Christmas songs at the grocery store–it seems I can’t avoid Christmas, even when I run into Food Lion for milk.

Last Sunday Bryce got our little fiber optic Christmas tree out of the storage shed here in Oriental and we plugged it in.  I said to him, “That’s all we need”  to acknowledge the holiday.  Too bad we can’t get away with just that at home in Cary.  But the entire extended family comes to our house each year on Christmas morning for present opening followed by a big dinner.  And this year we have two grandsons that need to believe that Santa came the night before and left them gifts.  Somehow a little three foot tree without ornaments collected over forty-some years would not do.  So I guess when Bryce and I get home tonight we will put up the seven-foot tree and during the next week I will gradually decorate it and the rest of the house.  I am hoping that the physical act of decorating will get me out of this funk and into the holiday spirit.

Helen  12/05/10

Sometimes it takes a holiday like Thanksgiving to remind us about all the blessings we have in our lives. Wednesday afternoon I was collecting the mail out of our mailbox when one of my neighbors came by. We wished each other a happy Thanksgiving and then she proceeded to tell me that her 29 year old grandson, who recently married, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He had surgery at Duke and was waiting to get stronger so they could begin chemotherapy. The surgeon was unable to remove the entire tumor. She said that it would be a hard holiday season for her family this year.

This made be put into perspective our family’s problems. No one is dying; we can afford to put food on the table; we both have jobs that we love; we have a lovely extended family with two beautiful grandsons; and we can live on our boat three days a week. Yes, Bryce and I have so much to be thankful for this year.

Helen 11/27/10

For those of you who have given up on me for any blogs, I know this must be a surprise.  My apologies.  Helen has probably written 10 blogs for every one of mine.  So I thought I would check in and surprise everyone.

If you’ve read Helen’s blogs, you know that we’re all excited about the arrival of our new puppy.  We went through agonizing Hell last week during the final days of our 14 year old Yorkie.  I got to be the one to hold her while we put her down.  It’s always my job which I welcome.  I consider it my last gift to my dogs – sort of a way of saying “Thank You” and expressing my love.  By contrast, this week is now a joy with each new capacity that unfolds with this little creature.  Fifteen minutes ago I went down to see her in the galley of our boat.  She proceeded to seek out “kisses” for the first time with unmistakable affection.

The other piece of news is that I’m re-contracting the itch to write.  This time, the book will be about spirituality from a non-dogmatic perspective.  I’m thinking about titling it “When Love & Anger Got Married:  Spiritual Growth Without Dogma.”  If anybody has any feedback about this title, positive or negative, I would greatly appreciate your comments.  The book will contain a lot of what I’ve learned in helping people to grow their own spirituality and meaning without relying on an external doctrine.  Over the years, I have worked with many people in 12 step programs who want the spirituality but don’t want to have to buy into a preset belief system about God.  I’d like to pass on the many things I’ve learned about how people can develop their own belief systems and, more importantly, their unconscious “felt sense” of their life’s meaning.  It’ll be different than the usual focus on conscious belief.  I’ve just started my first chapter but I think I’ll have enough material for about 15 chaptgers.

The weather is getting cooler now and I look forward to the cozy feeling when I write on the boat while Helen stews some lamb in a crock pot.  I can hear her rustling some pots down in the galley while starting to make dinner.  Friends are coming over tonight from the next boat over.  For now, life is good.

Bryce (11/13/2010)

I haven’t felt this way in a long time. It’s amazing how the heart can heal so quickly. Last week we were devasted  when we heard that Mitzie-Sue, our 14 year old Yorkie, had a brain tumor and kidney failure. She was such a big part of our lives and it tore us up when we had her euthanized last Sunday morning. But then we got Suzy-Q.

Suzy was timid and clingy the first few days as she got to know us. But through this first week her little personality has gradually emerged. She loves to play, especially to attack and shake her stuffed toys, and to retrieve tiny colored tennis balls. She enjoys closeness and wants to sleep at night as close to my chest as possible. And all the while she is attaching herself deep into my heart, filling the space where Mitzie lived for many years. Yes, I am still mourning her passing and I continue to cry when I see her pink leash or recall a memory. But the pain is less each day as Suzy does her puppy magic on my heart. I am falling in-love once more.

Helen 11/13/10

Our little female Yorkie, Mitzie-Sue, has been very sick during this past month. It started with the occasional stumble, then she seemed to fall over but quickly picked herself up. I thought she had a slipped disc in her back and the vet treated her for this. But it just got worse, and a few weeks ago she had a grand mal seizure. After that we noticed trembling at times and vacant stares that suggested petit mal seizures. On top of this she was in acute kidney failure and often would not drink water or eat. I started making her tasty dog food from fresh ground sirloin with shredded carrots and brown rice. She liked my food and could usually be enticed to eat. This past week we saw more and more seizure activity. On Saturday she seemed distant and would not respond to her name or focus when we called her. The seizure meds were not helping. We called our vet on Saturday evening and he said that he was 98% sure that she had a brain tumor. That made sense since she had deteriorated so quickly. Sunday morning Bryce and I made the decision to euthanize her. I could not watch her having any more seizures; it was tearing out my heart and now we knew she would not get better.

Earlier in the day we had taken Mitzie with us to the Bean (local coffee house) and encountered a lady who remarked on how cute Mitzie looked lying under my chair.  I proceeded to tell her about Mitzie’s health and that we would have to euthanize her soon.  The lady looked at me and said, “You need to get another puppy right away.  That is Mitzie’s gift to you.”  As I left, I thought about this.  So yesterday after we had Mitzie euthanized, we went to a local kennel and got a little tiny 8-week old Yorkie puppy who we named Suzie-Q.  I still have a big hole in my heart where Mitzie resided, but it is gradually getting filled with our new baby.

Helen– 11/08/10