Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Good Intentions

After being dockbound for the past two months, Hans and I decided it was time to do a bit of sailing (and now we don't need to drive 5 hours to get to our boat because sonofagun! we live on it!). So, Saturday morning, even after hearing a pretty questionable weather report and sleeping in way too long we took down the air conditioner, disconnected our power cords and water hose, rearranged the interior of the boat so things wouldn't go flying about and either break or hit Wilbur on his poor pitty head (I'm talking about the objects breaking, not Wilbur's head which is apparently unbreakable and you'd believe me if you ever saw him in action at the dog park. His head is just fine but I'm not sure I can say the same thing for the picnic tables or other pooches he's collided with). And even though we performed this very same song and dance every single day during our nearly two week trip from the east to the west coast of Florida through Lake Okeechobee, it suddenly seemed like a whole lot of work.


We were finally ship shape and then Hans tried to fire up our engines. Only they didn't fire up. They didn't even sputter. Our starting battery, battery number one, was dead. In the end this wasn't such a bad thing because the wind had really picked up and was easily blowing 20-25 within our very protected marina and the current forecast was saying something about eight foot waves and since I don't do much over three foot waves without either puking or complaining, I knew we weren't going anywhere. So, off Hans went to the local hardware store and we now own a new and hopefully strong battery.


Maybe this coming weekend will be better.


Remember my Halloween display? I found out that pumpkins don't last nearly as long here in Florida as they do in Pennsylvania and after two weeks mine were very definitely starting to rot. But before I could get rid of them someone took matters into their own hands.


Hans and I awoke one night when we both heard a lot of splashing around our boat. We agreed it must be the very same fish that have hysterics now and then around the marina and fling themselves about with wild abandon, and we went back to sleep. The next day we woke up to no more pumpkins and both of the beautiful potted plants that I just bought and never had a chance to take a picture of, gone.


I was still puzzling over who the hell would want to steal rotting pumpkins when the mystery was solved. My plants may have been taken but my poor pumpkins had been tossed into the drink and now appeared to be trick or treating as they bobbed their way from boat to boat. They were later fished out and disposed of by a marina employee. Not embarrassing at all!

I'm so loving the cooler temperatures!!! Hans took this picture of me last evening while I was sitting in the cockpit reading.



Yes, I'm wrapped up in a blanket!










I'm still trying to get used to the local creatures. Normally I'm pretty squeamish but I love the lizards that scurry about ever so busily, and I didn't even mind sharing my chaise lounge with one the other day. I wasn't so thrilled though when I spotted a snake sticking its nasty little face out of a hedge (way up at the top no less!) just inches away from where Wilbur was doing his business. And I was horrified the day Wilbur found this crab hiding under our beer cooler. I nearly had a heart attack because I thought it was a spider (and a huge one at that!).










I finally broke down and bought Wilbur a new 'hedgehog'. He'd already performed squeakerectomies on his first two and we actually sailed for months with just the husk of his second one. But I couldn't stand having its slimy little body around any longer and finally disposed of it.



So far Hedgy number 3 has lasted nearly a week and is still fully intact. I'm pretty sure this is a temporary situation.

The weather here has been extremely pleasant and I no longer feel like I'm going to melt every time I leave the boat. As a matter of fact I've actually ridden my bike to the beach the last two days.


And after talking with friends and family back home in Pennsylvania where it's been spitting snow, I asked Hans why the hell he took so long in moving us to Florida!


I love it here!


5 comments:

  1. haha We thought you were going to say Wilbur tossed the pumpkins overboard! He looks adorable, as always, with his new (intact) hedgie! We agree, snow is overrated!!! Warm weather RULES!

    The Road Dogs

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  2. Well...guess the aborted sailing day was a blessing as you found out about your dead battery. Funny how things work like that, eh? And boo-hiss to whomever threw your pumpkins in the water and stole your plants! Do you think it's someone at the marina...guess you'd know if you saw your plants on their boat!

    When I first saw that photo of Wilbur with the crab, I thought it was a spider, too. I was horrified...hate spiders! And I LOVE those little anoles (lizzards)...they live in Louisiana, too, and I loved playing with them when I was growing up...especially the baby ones - so cute!

    Hope the hedgehog lasts a while...Wilbur must be related to Noah...always performing surgical procedures on their babies....'gotta.get.this.squeaker.out!'

    Enjoy the cooler temps...it looks so cute to see you all wrapped up in a blanket in Florida! :o)

    XOXO,

    Cyndi

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  3. Road Dog, Snow is always pretty when it's falling somewhere else!
    Cyndi, it really does feel so much better here. And I'm glad Wilbur's chewing remains focused on his stuffies and not furniture like someone we know!

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  4. Laura, so glad to hear you're loving Florida! I know you've gone through a lot to get there.

    Love your Halloween display! As a native of the South, I've given up on real pumpkins long ago due to the heat.

    Isn't the cooler weather great?! It definitely gives me more energy.

    Boy, I thought that crab was a spider at first too!

    Sorry to hear that your attempt to sail didn't work out. Hope we both get to sail soon!

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  5. Cheryl, I feel so much better now that we have cooler weather, and if we're here next year I hope to have a better grasp on my pumpkin carving. As for sailing, we're more than ready to get out there and I'm sure you're going to get out more often too.

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