Settling In
13 December 2016 | Bethel, Maine
Elizabeth
Ed, Luna and I are finally back in Maine which we are officially referring to as "home". That is a strange feeling but no stranger I suppose than what we've been doing these past 5 years. When we left our land home in NC in 2011 we had no idea where our journey would end. I like to think our journey continues with new chapters, territory and unexplored adventures and yet, there is somewhere we are planting ourselves and in that respect, the nomadic life of fulltime cruising sailors has ended. And here we are, home in Maine where it's cold, cold, cold. Where Luna says, "Are you serious?" when we try to walk her after dark, which begins at 1640 (so early!) and again says, "No really, are you serious?" when we try to walk her in the frigid morning hour. Where each time we walk her we bundle up in three layers regardless of the brevity of our time outside. It's almost a fulltime job simply dressing for what used to be a relatively easy task. On Skylark, because Luna was trained to do her business on the back deck upon command, it was never much of a chore. Oh, well, yes, there were times when it was pouring rain and we didn't want to get wet. And times when we were underway in rough seas and none of us could get to the deck, fore or aft. And there were plenty of times we didn't really want to lower the dinghy and take her ashore but felt guilty enough to make it happen when she sat wistfully staring at a sandy beach close to where we anchored. Mostly, though it wasn't such a hard task. I'm not really complaining, just pointing out this is very different from December last year when we celebrated Christmas in Honduras. It seems like a lifetime ago.