Kaimusailing

Eve texted me that she needed help with her kitchen light. I was taking it easy after the ravages of Labor Day weekend. I biked to the wine store, then up to her house. I didn’t bring any electrical tools, I remembered she had most of the things she’d need.
.
When I got there she was on a step ladder with a kitchen light fixture. She was removing a small screw from it. It took a while to understand what was going on. Her old fixture had failed and the new one would fit right in. It was an LED light, large in diameter, but flat like a pancake. It should be easy to swap the new for the old, they were very similar.
.
I stepped in and removed the old wires and wire nuts, removed old electrical tape, the plastic kind that ends up leaving excessive adhesive all over the place. The new light had to be reattached with the wire nuts. A ground wire was removed, not code to do so, but a light fixture up on the ceiling had little chance of shocking anyone. It was plastic and inert, you’d have to remove the fixture to get electrocuted, such as we were doing now. I was very careful with the wires.
.
It turned out that the original installation left just a small opening with typical heavy solid copper house wiring that was wire nutted to the relatively light wiring of the fixture. We couldn’t force the wires and wire nuts back up into the small opening. I removed everything and cut back the house wires by an inch and a half, then dressed the wires and reconnected everything.
.
The fixture was tested before final reassembly. It was mounted and the flat pancake cover was installed. Project finished, except for disposal of the old stuff, just throw it away she said.
.
She also had remarked while I was commenting about the polarity of the wiring, you don’t know that you are just saying that. Well, I do know a bit about electricity and such. We went to her front porch which is also her art studio with lots of wonderful paintings and had a glass of wine each, she with the pinot grigio and I with the pinot noir. She said she was unhappy with her latest painting and I thought it was really good, as wonderful as any she had done. It was still a work in progress, but some areas were showing glassy water, reflections, a water scene typical of the Eastern Shore. She does not paint in a hurry, but takes her time. I said she must make about $.38/hr.
.
The news came in from Cuddily and Buster, she had purchased a power boat and were bringing it back to Crisfield, did we want to come to the Legion and see it. Yes, of course. I would leave my bike at Eve’s house and ride with her to the Legion with her black lab. I was wearing white shorts, a black tee shirt from London Olympics 2012, and a hat that said CAPTAIN on it. Of course at the Legion they would not respect a hat like that. I wanted to modify it so it said CAPITANSKI. Maybe in Cyrillic.
.
I think I had a burger or whatever they were cooking that night. The wine was merlot, I remember that. I had to bike back to the marina after returning to Eve’s house. I was carrying a shopping bag with a 900ml Poland Spring water bottle filled with pinot noir and other items.
.
Back on board SUNSPLASH I had some more wine, more than I should have, and ended up involved in an online tournament, such as I have mentioned before. I found a loophole in the tournament and! could run up huge scores, but finding the loophole was just a part of being very smart, and thus, a worthy opponent to the other players. I felt like the king of Wordle!, the sponsor of the tournament. I wouldn’t mention it otherwise. I finally fell asleep when the sun was trying to come up.
.
The morning was the afternoon. I made coffee. Slowly. I made a sandwich with leftover shrimp avocado salad, which Eve said was probably not bad yet, it had only been a couple days from when it was made.
.
The water in the marina was high, like a super high tide, so I had trouble descending from SUNSPLASH, like a cat on a table wondering how to get down. I had to go, if you know what I mean, and so I got down on the finger pier and then biked to the men’s room. I biked around the marina and out to the city dock and returned, some of the lower docks were awash. Somehow I got back on board.
.
I needed a day of rest and I felt somewhat depressed that maybe I wouldn’t be able to do what I am doing somewhere in the future, I hope not near. I expressed this in fierce competition in the Wordle! Tournament, overcoming a huge point deficit put on me by a very able competitor. I raised the score over him by one point, then stopped.
.
It was overcast and cooler than the last few days. I wonder if the boatyard in St. Marys is having respite from the usual humid and very hot weather down there. I was spending the day online using the phone for internet access, the marina wifi is a joke sometimes. Such as now.
.
Cuddily texted me that they were going to the Legion, but I didn’t feel up to it. I’m having one of those days I said, probably won’t make it.
.
I looked at myself in the mirror and decided to shave with my electric razor, and maybe I could shower and go to the Legion and get some food and drink. I was out of wine, again. The water in the marina had subsided. I was able to climb down onto the finger pier and bike to the wine shop.
.
When I came back I could see the full moon rising to the East. I greeted people with my usual admonition, they ask how are you, and I reply, Terrible. Gradually the populace is getting to know me and they laugh when I say that. Not always. I can’t explain it every time.
.
It happened so quickly, the snapping cracking sound as I stepped onto SUNSPLASH. I went down grabbing a lifeline within reach. A dock plank from the finger pier had snapped loose, hitting me in the ass as I went down. I was in the water but not floating or swimming, I was hanging on, thinking about how this is how the end could come. I struggled and made my way forward along the hull.
.
I had done this before when we docked SUNSPLASH and I went into the water. There is a ladder attached to the end of the finger pier, but I didn’t want to let go of the lifelines to get onto the ladder. Could be a metaphor for something. I made it up into the dry. I had blood, scrapes, bruises, wet clothes, and I went aboard and took off all the wet, sopped up the blood with Food Lion’s bargain paper towels. Maybe I should have gone to the Legion instead.
.
I was naked in the cabin and tending to my wounds, closed up the companionway hatch as if it was going to rain, but I didn’t want to be seen a bloody naked mess. You can’t get anything done this way I thought.
.
I wanted to watch the first NFL game of the season tonight, but I had no clothes. Earlier I had debated whether to take a shower with the last of the essential laundry, but then I would have to do a load of laundry, and I reneged, leave it for tomorrow. I couldn’t spread the pain out now, I was stuck on board and tomorrow would be dictated by my lack of initiative.
.
I had a pair of old shorts, that many have seen me wear, very old, showing through, so I wear black underwear under the white tattered shorts. Now I put them on so that I at least had something on. White skin showed through. Who’s looking I might ask.
.
The next day I awoke about 7:30, a nice time for me, and breakfast was as normal, but I was done by 9, my usual wake up time. I went to the showers and donned the last of my clean clothes, at least the last of my undershorts. I got quarters from the marina office and told them about the defective dock plank that had floated away after hitting me in the ass and dumping me into the drink. My plan was to do that laundry, but Eve texted me, when did I want to go shopping for new shoes and where, why not Pocomoke and Don’s for lunch, I replied.
.
So, no laundry got done, she had to drop of another piece of art to the gallery near the city dock and came to pick me up. We were experiencing a beautiful day, the dry corn stalks were being harvested on our way through the farmlands on our way to Pocomoke. The last time we went this way was to post flyers to sell puppies. It seemed like from another time.
.
We went to Walmart where I purchased for about $8 a new pair of open toed flip flops, better fitting than the ones now on the bottom of Somers Cove, and stylish with black and white accents. I was wearing tan slip on loafers, tan shorts, brown and tan Hawaiian shirt, and a tan hat from Hawaii labeled Maunakea, from my daughter’s partner who had scaled that mountain, but it’s spelled Mauna Kea, I said to Eve, I’m color coordinated.
.
At Lowe’s I got a 2X6 plank to make a step stool for the boat, Eve got a heavy bag of mortar, some slats to make art frames, and something else, I paid for it but she kept the receipt, artist supplies she said.
.
We went to Don’s, a drinking place that also serves food, and sat outside in the back where there was a large pool or lake with a fountain. Her black lab was with us, and other patrons with their dogs also gathered there. We had salads, stuffed ourselves along with crush drinks, then headed back to Crisfield. What a beautiful day.
.
We stopped at her house and I was employed in getting the 80 pound bag of mortar into her basement. Then we debated what to do next. I suggested going to the marina, where I could stow my stuff, and then go to the Shanty for libations. She took me.
.
The Shanty was supposed to open at 5 but they were open when we drove by. I stowed my stuff and she went home to get her lab to join us at the bistro. I brought my laptop to the Shanty which had good internet. I had to change some credit card assignments now that the card had been compromised. Eve returned right away with her dog and noticed signs that a birthday party was going to take place at the bistro. She was anxious about having the dog there and where should we sit. She took the dog back home and we sat at the bar. Teri, the artist, showed up and we sat together for a while, then went outside. Guests were arriving for the party, some we knew, some knew us, it was a large party with a large spread of food.
.
We were downing drinks, hydrating we call it, and sitting outside at a picnic table. When Eve was away Teri remarked how intelligent she was and didn’t see my reaction. She gets more done in 2 hours in the morning than I do in a week. And it’s true, this is a person who has a large engine inside, maybe her mind and heart are in constant overdrive. I thought about it. We were like oil and vinegar, someone said, and we were like two locomotives heading for each other and each has a gas pedal, to the floor, and no brakes. But we had had a great afternoon.
.
The sun was threatening to set and I left the table knowing they would talk about me, maybe, maybe there is not so much to say, I biked to the city dock and took a sunset photo, and biked back. Maybe 5 minutes, I can go faster if my sore muscles are inebriated, tomorrow they will be a little sorer. That’s the way things turn out sometimes, a spur of the moment movement will result in a treasure.
.
As it got dark we left. I had a long talk with the chef, Andy, and he took our discards away. How nice. I biked to the boat and on the way spoke with some partiers about how I ended up in the drink last night, they said they would stand by and listen for a splash. I successfully made it aboard only to realize I hadn’t paid my bill. It was only 8:30, I biked back, my bill was $33.40. It can’t be. The bill for lunch was four times that.
.
I did have a zen day, at times, and I realized it was me who had to find a way to get over my difficulties. I also had to relate my transcendental feelings to others, and maybe the world would go right.
.
It was a full moon.
.
The photo is from the one I took at the city dock.