I know very little about sailing. What I have learned was from a handsome young Mayan boy at a Caribbean resort many years ago. A dear friend had lost her husband after a relatively short struggle with cancer. Three of us decided to take her away after the funeral for a change of scenery. We thought it was a grand idea, and indeed…she took it like a champ. But, none of us had had any experience being a widow at that point and honestly…I have no idea how she did that. But she pulled it off and we all had a grand time.

We stayed at an all inclusive resort in Cozumel. It was a new resort, and it was travel agent week. The ringleader of this little soirée has a sister who was a travel agent and she got us the most incredible deal. We pulled this thing together quickly and within a matter of four days after the funeral, we were being greeted at the airport by men in crisp white and were handed refreshing wet towels and cool drinks. Our luggage was whisked off and we were treated like royalty for the next few days.

One of the activities we could experience was sailing a catamaran. I have always had a massive fear of water, but felt somewhat secure with a life jacket. We met at midday for an hour lesson and soon we were zipping back and forth…up and down the coastline. For some reason, I just “got it”. It seemed like second nature to gauge the wind and turn the sail to take us where we wanted to go.

It wasn’t long till my three friends had become bored and hot and were ready to head back in and do something else. I guided the craft back to shore, but when I let them off, I waved and said I was heading back out. I sailed alone on the Caribbean for the rest of the day and came back in as the sun began to set.

I felt so free…the wind in my hair, the salty sea spray splashing up on my skin keeping me cool. The rudder secure in my hand…let me steer the boat this way and that. I’ve been thinking about that experience a lot this last week. The confidence I felt on that catamaran is far different than the course I am sailing at the moment.

I knew there would be an adjustment phase to cutting back on writing every day here on my blog. But, I didn’t expect to feel so “rudderless”. Writing every day was my way of dropping anchor when the seas of everyday life tossed me about. That hour or so before bedtime was my daily meditation. Without that, I feel a little lost.

Oh, don’t get me wrong…my dance card is full. I’m writing like crazy. And, I’m doing lots of other busy and fun things that are keeping me hopping. Mr. FixIt and I met in town for dinner last night. We had no sooner finished till I received a return phone call I had to take and answered several texts that I had been waiting for. All for really cool, fun things coming up that I’ll share soon. 

When I put my phone away, I took my sweetheart’s hand.

“Thank you for being so patient with me while all this is coming together. I really appreciate it.”

He smiled and squeezed my hand.

“Do you remember this time last year? I was sitting all day long…every day…knitting washcloths. What on earth happened?”

He laughed and said, “YOU happened!”

He’s right. He tells me all the time…”It’s always an adventure with Ginny McKinney!”

My friend Gail and I are a team. We share the Ohio / West Virginia Girl Camper Chapter. Gail is the Ohio Guide and I am the West Virginia Guide. We run the Chapter’s page on Girl Camper sharing features like “Local Finds” and “My Picks”. We write stories about our experiences, how-to’s, and places we’ve traveled. And, we just joined 99Walks which we’ll be sharing with you. You can find our page here.

The Girl Camper Chapters are not just about camping. We also share the fun things about our states that we love…great places to stay, play, and dine. We want to make our page a place where anyone can find something enjoyable and we’d love to have you stop in to see it, poke around a little, and tell us what you think. If you can’t find me here every day, you might find me over there. I write on the main page under the tag “Girl Camper Wisdom” and in the articles about the Charity Trailer Raffle.

Some of you have said how much you miss me writing every day. Believe me, I’m missing it too. I’ll try to share past posts on the odd days that I’m not writing a big piece and hopefully that will fill in the blanks a little for both of us. I need this as much as anyone else. it’s become my comfort zone…my soft place to land. That’s not a bad thing to learn about myself.

I hope you are enjoying this odd little stretch of warmth we are having this month here in the east. It’s January and it can change on a dime. If the sun shines, go out midday and walk facing the sun. Air out your house. Drink some tea. Bleach your sheets and your counter tops. It gets rid of some of the germs hanging around in a closed up house. It’s good for what ails ya’, as my grandma used to say.

Oh, yes…I almost forgot. We are getting a new great grandson tomorrow! 

❤️

“An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.”

Proverbs 18:15 ESV