Fair Winds

It's still early in the season here, but Providence gave My Hero gorgeous weather for his birthday (Happy Birthday!!!) and he finagled one of the only boats that was actually in the water moored just off Long Island Sound. I'm not going to lie. The cold bit through two sweaters and my coat. Wind must be cold blooded like a reptile, because it generally comes out after the sun has been up for a while. In our case, that was the last hour of our sailing time.

It was GLORIOUS!

We met a new friend (NF) who had at least 20 years of sailing experience. NF and My Hero generously coaxed me into taking the tiller while we had the precious wind. Normally, I stick to the sheets (ropes) and follow orders because I find the tiller counter-intuitive. Last season I logged a total of 40 minutes on a Sunfish before a lightening storm blew in. I was holding sleeping Mermaid the whole time. I'm not exactly a helmsman. So I was embarrassed to take the tiller in front of NF and didn't want to steal any of their wind time. This is not what is meant by "willing to learn."

I felt the wind working with our little vessel and the tiller started to make sense on a visceral level. I had to concentrate, but I made a successful tack. That was probably the longest I was ever at the tiller. My Hero fell in love with sailing first. I'm right behind him.

We didn't take any pictures, but it felt something like this:


Click here to learn about the Nortons, a family of 5 from the UK who are sailing around the world, expanding our dreams and spicing up our geography lessons. We all adore them!



I recently learned about this book promoting the value of sailing as a family in this day of decreased family leisure time and increased division due to digital devices. Here is the quote that sold me:

The best way to get people into sailing and keep them interested, says Hayes, is the time-honored relationship of a capable mentor and a keen apprentice: “Mentoring is teaching infused with leadership. Mentoring may center on a principal skill or a capability like sailing, but its mastery isn’t exclusive to the skill or the technique, but to the broader understanding of what makes the skill or technique valuable and relevant.”

Family, Mentoring, and Sailing - three loves of mine.

Fair Winds!

Wheels

Saturday afternoon with My Hero riding around the marina.
We love summer!!

Always time for cheesecake

Happy Birthday, My Hero! 

He only had 50 minutes to join us for lunch and a luscious Keylime cheesecake. 

(Kendra C's lemon cheesecake is still number 1!)

Highlights

In an unexpected twisted of fate, My Hero's H.S. sweetheart offered me such a sweet gift: highlights, lowlights and a whole morning of pampering! If you live or visit anywhere near American Fork contact me so that I can give you her information because she is a fantastic person and a wonderful stylist.

WAHOO!

After 12 years of marriage, another first... snowmobiling!  I was definitely nervous because I didn't want to get stuck or hit anything, so we played it safe and went to the gorgeously groomed trails of Daniels Summit Lodge.  My Hero got the hang of it right away and was tearing up the snow off trail.  I think I was more of a 'cross country' snowmobiler.  I was just taking it nice and easy only taking a couple of well worn off-trail circles.  

Slow and steady wins the race.  Because I was taking it slow and My Hero was hopping off the trail every chance, I got ahead of him and we were separated.  When he caught up with me, I think I wanted to show off a little.  You know, impress my man, so I went off trail and ended up WAY off-trail.  I couldn't make the turn back onto the trail and went over the slope.  I fell off the snowmobile right away as it dropped out from under me and it just coasted down the hill until it finally parked itself in the trees.  Wah-oops!  There was no serious damage to me or the snowmobile, but it was exhausting trying to stamp down 3 feet of snow or use a pine lever to help it out.  Unfortunately, I wasn't much help trying to budge a 500 lb. machine buried in powder.

We finally admitted defeat and headed back to the lodge for reinforcements.  Yikes!  I had been taking it about 20 mph on my own ride, but now I was hanging on around My Hero's waist going his normal speed - 40-50+ mph.  There were some awesome off trail rides he just couldn't resist, so he was tearing it up with me hanging on the back.  Did I mention the snowmobile seat was branded with a picture of two people riding a snowmobile with a slash indicated Do Not Do This?  Well, it's a good thing we did because I got to enjoy some adventure I never would have considered on my own and it was a totally blast despite practically blowing out both of my knees as I tried to stay on.  My Hero actually liked riding with me in the hootchie-mama seat following all of his moves and keeping him warm.

Once we reached the lodge the lovely and wind chapped Jesse came to help us.  What?!  I thought we could just tell him where it was and go home.  I could barely stand.  Evidently, we had to show Jesse the stuck snowmobile guru where it was and then I had to be there to drive it back.  So...I hopped back on with My Hero and braced myself for another ride.  Jesse wasn't just a stuck snowmobile guru, he was also a speed demon like My Hero.  We made it to the crash site in record time.  Two brawny men were able free my ride in about 10 minutes.  It's a good thing I was there.  I had to rev the gas as they pulled it in reverse, very important. ;)  

We were finally on our way again.  I was still cautious on the ridges, but when the trail opened up, so did I.  After all, My Hero had shown me how to do it and the worst of my snowmobiling fears had already been realized resulting in little more than a dented bumper.  In fact, I was loving this adventure.  When I came to the flats, I actually pinned the gas and broke 50 mph on my own.  I saw My Hero take a jump and a spill, but he just hopped back on his machine and continued tearing it up.  WAHOOOooooo!

P.S. I think the reason I don't look as cool as My Hero is that none of the adult helmets fit, so I had to wear a squinky child's size helmet w/o fierce face guard.

Still Crazy

My Hero dared me to do this. I'm not sure you can tell that I'm 8 months pregnant in this photo, but that's what makes it so astonishing. I won't be doing anything else impressive for quite some time.