Milestones

We planned our bon voyage party months ago, and it was always far in the future in that never-never land where we would be on the cusp of sailing away from Kodiak on our boat, the most improbable thing you could imagine. And then suddenly last Saturday the day was here, friends were arriving first in a trickle and then all at once, and we were having a grand time and then it was over way too fast. Our apologies to those who showed up at Ft. Abercrombie. Our bad. Anyway, we had a beautiful day for it, which is no small thing given the run of incredibly foul weather that Kodiak is giving us as a farewell treat. The whole thing was bittersweet for both of us.

With that milestone behind us, we know our sail-away day will be here soon soon. In other milestone news, A. officially quit her job on Friday. She is the most responsible person I know, and when my race is run I'll be able to look back and say that if nothing else, I was able to talk her into quitting her permanent federal job and running away to sea with her husband and little boy, against all reason.

I've got quite a few ideas about the grand gesture, and its shrinking role in the fourth decade of a person's life, and the really important role that grand, even poetic, gestures can still play in our lives if we just let them. But writing about that, inshallah, will have to come later. Now we just need to get our asses off the Rock.

A. in organizing mode: "Which of these papers will we need for taxes next year?" Note the lack of furniture and decor. Still way too much stuff in this picture to go onto the boat, though.

Eli, meanwhile, remains unimpressed by all the fuss.