Kim and I have tea ready for our conversation at Starbucks before 7am. We're meeting in a neighboring city, closer to where she's headed this morning. Oh, to hug the neck of someone you like and respect ... that's a treat, beyond a virtual conversation across the ocean. She buys me a coaster to put under a drinking glass. Every time I look at it, I have to laugh. I'd join her gang anytime.
And look who we run into? Debbie and I send a quick selfie to Julia with a, "Where are you?!"
Wednesday
W heads out in the morning to go on an overnight boat trip ... except that our friend invites me along. The two guys wait patiently for a half-hour while I dress and throw together my overnight bag. They always have a lot to talk about so the conversation gets started as they sit together.
I love the boat and being on the water as much as they do. But first, we have to swing out of this narrow parking slip (see the little parking space below?)
past the highrise that borders the water (wonder how many times they've been hit by a prow)
and around a big yacht that sticks its stern to the edge of the dock (um, are you asking for trouble?)
Terry's a pro - and we're soon on our way.
We pass the Sleepless in Seattle houseboat
on our way out through the locks into Puget Sound
The guys talk to a 75-year-old, whose new 35-footer is rafting us (tied to our boat, going through the locks). It's the man's first boat. He plans to bring it back up the coast later today with himself and his son, after picking up his son from a city south of Seattle.
The water level lowers and the gates open.
It's also the boat owner's first lesson in boating. The instructor aboard takes the boat through the locks, steering from the wheelhouse without demonstrating what to do. Our guys run around the sides, lowering bumpers to prevent being scraped. Apparently, the "new boat" doesn't have the right size bumpers and the other guy has no idea of protecting his hull (or ours).
We spend a leisurely afternoon in town, eating a late lunch at a Mexican hangout, looking through art galleries, and sharing dinner at a German restaurant. What a shock to see the empty main street as we walk back to the boat. Where is everyone? Oh wait. It's Poulsbo and it's already after 8pm.
We sleep soundly. The water is quiet, the boat barely rocking.
"Oh no," Terry shakes his head. "I had 3 months of lessons before going solo. One lesson may not be the best thing for him or his boat."
Free of the locks, we're on our way to Poulsbo, a straight run across the Sound and up a wide channel, chugging against the tide. It's beautiful, the swells are moderate, and none of us is prone to seasickness. A lazy sea lion lounges on the waves as we reach the harbor.
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| A blue heron finds a resting spot in the dark. Can you spot him? |
Thursday
In the morning, the barnacles, exposed on the posts at low tide yesterday, are submerged under high tide.
Read more:
Sluy's Bakery is read for us when we walk off the dock and across a sliding ramp up to street level. We grab a boxful of favorites from the heaping displays of baked goods, heading back to the boat for breakfast tea and sweet pastries.
It's raining hard and the guys insist I take the only umbrella even though I have a wool hat and raincoat. Once aboard, the boat is cozy.
Once under way, the rain splatters against the windows. It's warm inside the cabin but colder in the wheelhouse where the guys are.
The trip with the outgoing tide is quicker. Terry explains that we'll use half the fuel of yesterday when we were working against the current.
The locks are just as interesting - with a fierce-looking dog on the back of the boat rafted to ours. "Good doggie. Don't worry, we won't jump down onto your deck to say hi." His eyes never leave us until they cast off and chug away.
The cherry trees are just starting to bloom along the locks. Seattle is beautiful in springtime if you don't have to go out in the rain ... We moor at the Salmon House. What? We're eating again? YUMMMM YUM.
*You save humans and animals alike, O Lord. Psalm 36:6
*I am going to gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, those with child and those in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here. Jeremiah 31:8
*Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Matthew 6:26
*Jesus said, “I do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting.” John 4:34-35
*Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 1 Peter 1:22-23 NIV
Moravian Prayer: God of compassion, pour into us today a new desire to notice the least, the last and the broken in our midst. Help us to see with renewed insight, the opportunities that abound to partner with you to help all who are in need.
Jesus, our brother, help us to remember in this moment your deep love for the world. Help us resist fear, and to turn from the temptation to hate anyone. Renew in us the will to seek reconciliation with all people. Amen.
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