Going Inland

Some thoughts on Sailing, and being a woman at the Helm

Writing & Wanderlust

So…we went inland for the Easter holiday, to see family in La Porte.  Funny how we’ve blended into the weave of fellow IBC’s (Islanders by Choice) here on our Gulf Coastal Island home.  Even still, we long for the water, the rocking back and forth of our sailboat, the clinking of the masts in the wind.  We visited with a local marina the day after Easter, after we got back to the island from a second trip to La Porte in two days because Nico left his phone at his Mom’s the day before.  I have to admit, that day was a good one: lunching with Nico’s dad (the baby’s only living Grandpa), the lolly-gag-of-a-drive back to the island, the visit to the marina…and the smell of the water…down along the slips.

My wanderlust is really getting to me these days, and I miss our sailboat more and more.  If…

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The Forever Optimist — A Family Beach Staycation

Free Family Fun for the New Year!

Forty Something Parents

We moved to the island last year…on a wing and a prayer; hoping we could make it work, blind to the struggles we would face.  Because of many financial hardships and our rather modest (to put it nicely) means, we’ve learned to become quite creative with how we entertain our toddler.  Free family fun is the norm for us; a very simplistic way of island life.  It has made us better people and parents…all-the-more.

Now, with the holidays behind us, we have welcomed our first new year as full-time Islanders.  And because we love the ocean and the beach so…we felt compelled to go shelling at one of our favorite family-friendly spots along the coast.   This particular stretch of Galveston Beach is a place we have come-to-call ‘Nixi’s Pirate Play Park’.  In our opinion, and Baby’s, it is the best little park on the island!  We highly recommend it to…

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New Years Eve on Galveston Island

Click on Pic for Cheap or Free Island Fun for New Year’s Eve…

The Perpetual Pot of Stew

Click on Pic!  And…Enjoy!

.V..

The Perks to Working Weekends

This just in…!  Who says that working on weekends is so bad.  There are a lot of perks to being a Weekend Warrior!  Read on…

Life Begins At Forty

Many changes have been taking place, both with my body and within myself, since I turned 40. And at first I felt a little confused by it all; not really able to understand what was going on with me.
Then I watched a movie that I’d seen many times before, though it had never affected me when I was younger as it did that changing day; the day of the epiphany. The movie was Fried Green Tomatoes; the part when Evelyn Couch (played by Kathy Bates) is deep in the throes of menopause. And in conversation with Ninnie ‘Idgie’ Threadgoode (played by Jessica Tandy), Evelyn tearfully confesses “I’m too old to be young, and I’m too young to be old”.

And THAT…in a nutshell, says it all when it comes to how I’ve been feeling since turning forty; the many changes in my personality, who I am becoming, how I feel, the whole nine-yards really. And to top it all off, I’m nurturing a growing toddler as I too bloom and grow into the mid part of my life. I feel blessed to have a loving husband by my side through it all, because I really couldn’t imagine having to go through this transition alone; especially with a small child on my hip.

Needless to say, now that I am in my mid-forties, I am beginning to feel new again; still exhausted and confused, but none-the-less like a butterfly coming out of her cocoon. I can almost feel it; the way it feels to fly. I can almost smell the freedom of older age; not caring so-much how I look but more-so how I feel about ‘me’. It’s funny really, when I look in the mirror I see my face aging…like it’s almost overnight, since I feel some days like I’m still in my twenties. I even forget at times that I’m no longer a child. I guess that’s one of the many blessings of having a late-in-life baby; she keeps me feeling young. On days when I’m feeling low, I still have to keep going. I’m not allowed to sit and be a mope. That’s a good thing! I’m forced to stay afloat, no matter how much I feel like I’m sinking in the every day day-to-day.

I find ways to renew myself. Like lately, I’ve been learning to play my mandolin; the one I’d originally bought for Hubby to play…since he’s the Guitarist. Even still, it’s been about 4 months since I first picked it up…just to fool around and see what kind of sound I could make. To my pleasant surprise, it just seems to fit the new me. I’ve come a long way–according to Hubby–in a very short time; writing, composing, and playing my own songs and blending new sounds into songs we’ve already recorded. Gypsy Vin Rose is our love-child duo; the music that stems from our love for each other, our beautiful daughter Nixi Vin-Rose, for love of life, travel, and just being in nature or flying down the highway in our old VW Van. All of this is what made us who we are as a family. And I’d say, the new me loves who she is becoming.

*Life Is New…Until It Is No More*

Life’s Little Annoyances — Being Faced With Rudeness

I woke up this morning…long before sunrise, feeling like I might find some answers to the problems I face…if only I sit down and write it all out. So here I am, tapping away at my keyboard with a thousand-and-one thoughts in my head. I know my time is limited; my husband and Baby will soon be waking to watch our Saturday morning cartoons en espanol. It’s one of my favorite things that we all do together. Simple…yet priceless.

So now…with those few words behind me, I am left only with the problems I am trying to work out in my life. I find they are too many to list in one sitting, so I am back to life’s little annoyances that have occurred these past few weeks. I want to kick myself for jumping too soon last year, too soon into something we thought, at the time, might be a good thing for our family.
Almost a year later, we are happy for what brought us to such a scene but not so much the scene itself. You see, when you have a very impressionable toddler you have to watch yourself…and others, every minute; she picks up on everything. You have to know that the example you’re setting and allowing others to set around her, especially the language being used, is something that cannot be unlearned.

Which brings me to my first little ‘bother’–
We were caught completely off-guard when someone we had the utmost respect for; someone who had always respected us and our little’n, started dropping F-bombs right within ear shot. We had no escape, nor did we have a chance to cover Baby’s ears. It was completely out of left field. This person is a leader, or so we thought. But I guess we are all, plain and simple, only human.
So I guess the question is: Do we need to contiunue putting ourselves in such situations? I know the answer.

Though the rudeness didn’t stop there…no siree! Just this past week, we were completely disrespected by a horrible person, who doesn’t seem to like anyone…so we never thought much about him not saying a lot to us. Well, he made up for it when he cursed and yelled at my husband over a TV ((?) Get a life, you old fart!), while Hubby attempted to serve himself from a buffet to which I had contributed; which, if I may add, was placed right in front of the damn TV! What nerve…the arse!

Needless to say, we didn’t expect to be treated that way in a place that claims to be a ‘friendly and family oriented’. We now feel like we’ve been led into the wolf’s den, and we’re not too eager to be a part of it. Even still, I have to say that most of the folks in this ‘place’ are really great and nice people; We even received a few apologies from the decent folks who witnessed the ignorant behavior.
My daddy always told me that rudeness is just ingorance in disquise. I have to agree!

So, here we are: not too eager to be walking into the wolf’s den any more. We have to protect our family, ourselves, and what rightfully is ours…bought and paid for. So now, I think I have the answer I’ve been looking for.

Ask yourself… What would you do?

*Life is just too short*

Sailing Our San Juan 24 — The Maiden Voyage

Yesterday was a day unlike any other–it was the day we sailed our SJ 24 ‘Peniki II’ for the very first time. It’s nearing a year now since we saved her from going to scrap, and it hasn’t been easy getting her ready to sail. But it has certainly been worth it in every way!

You see…? We love our old yacht; she is now part of our family, and we were beyond joy (floating on air) yesterday when a seasoned sailor friend of ours offered to ride along with us to show us the ropes, and even loaned us his motor so we could clear the docks with ease. It was the final installment, I guess one might say, in the many contributions our sailing friends have made…just to help us get the old girl back out sailing again. For all their help, we are forever grateful.

For many…many months, we’ve been itching to get our boat out on the little lake where she is moored, but without a motor (and with our toddler on board) we wanted to play it safe, and so we opted to wait it out until we were able buy our own outboard.

Anyone who has ever owned a boat, especially a sailboat…vintage or new, knows it’s a labor of love that cannot be measured by the dollars one will spend on the restoration, maintenance, and countless other avenues. We are of meager means when it comes to money, so it has been rather slow-going getting our ‘old girl’ out sailing again.

Many of our sailing friends were almost as excited as we were to see our classic SJ #38 cutting through the waves like butter. She’s a fast boat, so we’ve discovered; even with sails that are a bit too small. Lucky for us though, because this boat is so swift that she might’ve gotten away from us under bigger sails.

Needless to say, yesterday is the day we have recorded to be ‘The Day We Began Our Sailing Journey’ on board our ‘bargain-boat-turned-classic’…Peniki II. Our maiden voyage, but-if-only a day trip, was the first of many more to come; of this we are certain.

The memory of sailing into the setting sun at the helm of our San Juan 24 will forever be priceless! We are now counting the days ’til we set sail again; knowing that someday in our near future we’ll be charting our course to deeper waters and places yet unseen.

Never stop Dreaming…

Sailing Club Work Party

Here’s a little something I put together for the LWSC–to remind us of the good times!

Many more to come!!  Fair winds and see you at the club!

.V..

Sunday Mornings At The Club

Another Sunday morning…waking up at the Sailing Club, and all is peacefully quiet in this lakeside world we only-just discovered a little more than a month ago.  It is here, in this place, where I feel most alive; having felt a bit numb for the past year we’ve spent within the confines of the dungeon we are soon to vacate.  Not soon enough–I might add.  I am so happy to be waking up here…and not there.

This little ‘escape in the city’ is a pure joy to us.  Nico loves tinkering with Peniki II (our newly aquired San Juan 24 sailboat), and I love making coffee the ‘more primitive’ way with my campstove; enjoying the view from atop the peninsula as I stir…then sip.  “Aaaaah!  This place is a pure gem.”  I feel a rush of blessings as I turn toward Peniki (our trusty old VW Camper Van) to see that Nico and Baby are still sound asleep inside.  ‘Wow!  I really do love this.’  I tell myself.

The sun casts a glow over the port side of my face, as I realize this moment will soon end and day will overtake morning.  But that’s alright with me, since we’ll be heading back down to the docks to work some more on Peniki II, while I work a bit on my tan (to cover my forty-something flaws…no doubt).

I sip my coffee…I look around just to make sure I’m not dreaming.  I tell myself that this is my new reality, and I am thankful even more this minute than I was just a moment ago.  Looking over at Blanca–our little schnauzer–I see she’s been playing in the briar patch again, and has sticker-burs dotting her fir to prove it.  I have to laugh when I think back to yesterday, remembering when me and Baby went for a short swim and how Blanca swam out to us…only to discover that she couldn’t touch bottom.  Not only did I have a toddler clinging to me, but also a little white ‘scaredy dog’.  *heh um*

The music of birds chirping is now being joined by the morning stirs of Baby in the van, waking up and looking for Mom.  My time for ‘me’ is fast-coming to an end–this I know.  I hear her cries–it’s time to wrap it up.  To whomever takes the time to read my words, I bid you Happy Sunday.  May yours be magical too.

.V..