Age

Some say that age defines us. I think you are only as old as you want to be. I have known young people who act old beyond their age and people pushing eighty that get up and dance with a glass of wine to a tune they enjoy.

Age is something that all of us must face, each year we gaze in the mirror to the changes that the last twelve months have left us. Some faces carry the deep grooves of a hard life and some do not. But that really doesn't mean that those that don't, have had it any easier, it just means that they age differently.

For me, going to bed in my forties and waking in my fifties really didn't mean much. I am still the same ole John, with the same ole drive and desires. I just have another milestone of life in my wake. I feel the same as did when I was a teenager, maybe a few more aches and pains; well, a lot more aches and pains, but none the less, the same.

I am sure that some people think I am crazy to want to retire on a boat. The fact is, I don't want to wither away sitting on the front porch watching life go by, waiting for my number to come up. If it comes up when I am pulling line on a sailboat reaching for a foreign port, then I have lived to the last moment, and wont have any regrets.

Autumn

The light of day closes around us, cold and crisp, the howling wind. The leaves burst into flaming colors, before cascading slowly to the ground. Soon, the nakedness of the forest, the cold frost and withering vines are all that remain of the fading summer. Rain and wind, intermingled with brief glimpses of sunlight rule the days, cold frost and mists, the nights.The Autumnal equinox is upon us, half way between summer and winter, life and death.

With Autumn comes the harvest; a time to reap the bounty of our mother earth. A time to celebrate and give thanks for that bounty. A transitional time between life and death. Generations of people before us have prepared for the coming winter, storing food, and fuel, hunting and gathering. It has become a part of our souls. Still today people hunt and gather in the fall, fulfilling that primal need to prepare.

Sit in the forest this fall and listen, leave your busy world behind and open your mind. The squirrel scampering through the freshly piled leaves, stopping to scratch the earth in search of acorns, the bleating of a fawn seeking its mother, its tail quick to raise at the slightest hint of danger. If you listen close, you might hear the faint clang of antlers clashing deep in a draw as young bucks wrestle for dominance. The shriek of an eagle, searching for an afternoon meal, riding the thermals as it circles the wood. The sounds and sights go on and on, taking you back to a time before instant everything. A time when we were closer to nature.

Living close to the earth, taking only what one needs to survive: Autumn gives us that opportunity, to celebrate who we are, who came before us, and the bounty with which we have been blessed. Take a walk this fall and let your senses experience the world around you.

Full Circle

Once again the air is cooler, the leaves are changing colors, faster than one can imagine. Another year has come, and is quickly drawing to an end. Just like the season, we too change with the year, although so slowly it is hard to discern. My own colors are turning whiter as the the years fall off, or on, depending how you weather them, but I don't really mind getting older, its just another chapter of life to experience. This is a bitter-sweet time of the year for me; bitter because it ushers in the end of the sailing season, and sweet because I love the crisp clean air of Autumn.

With the end of the sailing season comes the work of getting the boat ready to make it through the long winter months. Sanding and scraping old tired varnish was the first order of business for Aquilon. All of the cushions, pillows, and blanket were stowed away or brought home. And the water systems were drained and refilled with marine anti-freeze. Working on the boat is a kind of therapy for me, concentrating on something other than my job, gives my mind the freedom to wander and contemplate the life aquatic.

During the winter months, we only visit the marina once or twice a month, just to check and make sure everything is ok with our big baby. This year we also had to winterize Williams jet ski; we will have to add that to our list to visit in the coming months.

The wind, from the east was cold and brought hints of the winter to come. Marina friends were all huddled in their boats trying to dodge the cool stiff breeze, while enjoying beverages with other friends. Our other friends, Deb and Tim, finally set sail for warmer waters after plunging their boat in the Chesapeake bay, the smile on their faces says it all about the adventure they are starting on.

Martina and I envy them, but it also gives us renewed enthusiasm to follow our own dream to be cruisers. Winter will come and go and spring will bring the promise of another season of sailing, and with it, we nudge a little closer to our goal.

Lest we forget.

A quote from one of my favorite movies: Excalibur "It is the doom of man that he forgets": So well spoken. All we have to do is look around and see that we make the same mistakes over and over.

Most people laughed off the government shutdown as business as usual, and I agree in part, but I want to share a story with you about a government shut down in another place and time.

At the end of the Roman Empire, Great Britain was one of the last foreign holdings of the Romans. As the Empire collapsed into itself, most Britons had no idea what was happening. People, being optimistic for the most part, didn't get alarmed as the legions pulled out and headed for mainland Europe. They only started to get anxious when the leaders and their families packed up and left, leaving cities like London largely deserted.

Within weeks, former chieftains and armed men were fanning out across the country laying claim to cities, towns and regions of the country. Normal people were displaced, killed, and robbed of their lifelong acquired possessions. People who had spent their entire lives in cities and relied on stores to buy food, clothing, and tools, were now forced to either starve or learn a new way of life.

Education and knowledge were lost: with in a few generations people had forgotten  most of the skills they had used in daily life. There were no more stone masons, potters, tanners, etc. Small settlements sprouted up all over the place as displaced people migrated together (misery loves company). The deserted large towns were used as quarries for stone and wood and many were thought to even be haunted in time.

This time period became known later as the dark ages; illiteracy, ignorance, war, and fear ruled the day. It would be another thousand years before the rebirth of knowledge and the arts. The great knowledge of the Greeks and Romans; satire, comedy, medicine, and philosophy all widely practiced and enjoyed for four hundred years of Roman rule faded into memory.

In our own time we are only one day away from the same type of calamity. Don't believe me? Take a look around you: If you couldn't go to the grocery store, how would you eat? You could grow crops, provided you had seeds, but that would take a season and you would starve well before that. Hunting is an option, but the majority of people alive today have never hunted, even if we could, our shear numbers would deplete the wild game supply in weeks.

If you are one of the lucky ones with a stocked pantry, you would become a target for people who would use violence to take what you have. It would be very similar to the story I just told you. Imagine gangs of armed men going house to house to take whatever they wanted. Dial 911? I don't think so, if your phone even worked. any police would be home protecting their own families and property.

I am not saying this will happen, but it could easily, all it needs is a catalyst. After the initial violence and starvation people would once again migrate together for safety at least. The song: A country boy can survive, has new meaning in a world out of control. If you are a city dweller, it might be a good idea to learn to hunt and fish. No more welfare babies in this world. Everyone would be required to pull their weight or be cast out of the community. It gives new meaning to being thrown to the wolves.

The good news is that society does rebound; in time of course. So, we would be long gone but our ancestors in a few hundred years should have it a lot better.

We can do our part to make sure it doesn't happen. We can vote out every member of congress and replace them with people who have our best interest in mind and not their respective political parties .The next time the government pushes itself to the brink hopefully they will consider the consequences and not forget the past.