Saturday, July 13, 2013

Friends and Family

Yesterday, Pam and I played golf with our friends from the Mayfield Yacht Club.

????   What does this have to do with Bleecker Mountain Life, you ask?  

Well, everything, actually.  Those of you who followed our cruising blog, Drift Away, know that Pam and I were having a ball traveling down the eastern seaboard on our 46' trawler.  When we returned to upstate New York for a visit in the summer of 2012, we realized not only how much we missed the scenic beauty of the Adirondacks, but also our friends and family.  We wound up buying ten acres of land in Bleecker (halfway between Bleeck and Bleeckest) to build a little homestead onto it.

Hmmm... there's that phrase popping into my vocabulary more and more.   It's a regional thing.

That deer had one heck of a rack onto it.   Anyway...

While we haven't decided to give up the cruising/liveaboard life, we have decided to return to our roots.

Most all of us have friends and family.  Probably most of us take them for granted, or perhaps we barely tolerate them.  Like Uncle Luther, who refuses to wear his teeth and hasn't bathed since May.


Uncle Luther don't abide by commies, wimmens libbers, and them funny fellers.

One thing that Pam and I came to understand about the cruising community is that friends come and go.  By definition, cruisers travel.   We made many fine friends while traveling, and then they, or we, would up and leave.  To be honest, this was one of the few things we disliked about cruising.

One of our major reasons for leaving the hot, steamy summers of Georgia for the frozen tundra of Bleecker was to reconnect with our more stable family of friends and relations, even Uncle Luther.  And part was also to rejoin the things we loved to do, like horseback riding with Kim, or sitting on James' porch on a nearby lake enjoying gin and tonics, or attending a grandkid's birthday party, or playing golf with our old friends from the Mayfield Yacht Club.

Please note that the Mayfield Yacht Club is NOT a hoity-toity snooty yacht club.  Except for three people, they are all normal, friendly, down to earth folks.

So Pam and I had a great time slashing around the golf course yesterday with our friends, laughing at our ineptness and being thankful that we don't earn our living from golf.  I chatted with people I hadn't seen in many years, and we picked up right where we left off like it was yesterday.

So what's in store today?  Smoothing our land?  Moving stuff from our storage unit to TODD?  Trying to get Bessie the Tractor to start?   Nope.  We're going to Riverfest in Stillwater to see 4ever1,  a band that played at our Friday Night Music Night at our bookstore, and then to a family graduation party.

This whole thing sounds pretty dull and uninteresting.

No, not dull at all.  Spend a few years away from friends and family, only connected by email and Facebook, and I guarantee you'll understand.  After some time and distance, not even Uncle Elmer seems that bad.


Uncle Elmer loves everyone and everything, but he especially loves his Busch beer.  It helps him cope with Aunt Sophie.


But while we're enjoying life north, we miss our cruising friends.  In no particular order.  Dick and Deb, Gene, Miro, Bill and Patty, Ben and Joe, Jim and Sharon, Diane, Sammy, Geoff and Linda, Dan and Pat, Neil, Robert and Carolyn, Joe Green, Tony and Sandy, Jackie and Paul, Nancy and Judy, Kermit and Chris, Bob and Janet, Pat and Lorrie, John and Beth, John and Jeri, Ron and Jan, Bob and Lynda, Renee' and Jon, Parker and friends, all of our Pirate Friends too numerous to mention.  Also marina owners and dockmasters including Rick and Patty of Isle of Hope, Sheri and Cindy at Brunswick Landing Marina, and Shawn and Mark at Seaview House, and many many more.

I can't get into details of the Navi-Nut (patent pending) team at the Black Duck R&D Center.  According to Kent Boatguy, the head of operations, it's something about the statute of limitations.

That's more friends and fond memories in such a short period of time than most people deserve to have.

But one door closes...


and another door opens...


Bleecker Mountain Life is good.

1 comment:

  1. Yes Dave--The statute of limitations on the Patent Pending for the Navi Nut have come and gone... Maybe we can try again once you start cruising again...

    The Black Duck research center has been converted back to it's original purpose-- A great bar that serves fine food rite on the Saugatuck River in Westport, CT.

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