Skip to main content

Mary's Shed


Good morning everyone. A very chilly 3 degrees here this morning. The stars twinkle more brightly than ever. First light is coming over the ridge. Today we pause to remember the events at Pearl Harbor. On the way home from work yesterday I had a myopic driver on my tail and was thinking of a bumper sticker I would like to put on my truck, "Slow down...Life is fragile." I should thank that driver sometime for reminding me of what I value most.

Bruce and I are pounding along, literally, on Mary's new shed. The walls are all framed up. The building takes a little more form. Mary warmed the day with steaming hot blueberry muffins for coffee break. I told Mary she could start moving the wood in any time she wanted. We are all taking a day to attend to our other jobs. Bruce is a caretaker of a small island summer cottage while Jen and I have a meeting this morning. We will get to the rafters and roofing next week. We are having fun and that makes the chilly days as warm as Mary's muffins. If you have ever had a chance to sail with Bruce you know he is full of stories. Ask him to tell you the one about the chalk line.

Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Jen, what are you doing letting Barry out of bed to write a shop report at 0310. He should be fast asleep, dreaming of next year's sailing adventures.

Otterbein Greg

Popular posts from this blog

Hail Mary

My heart is heavy with sadness as I write this particular blog. Since the beginning of August our dear friend and cook for the last 12 years, Mary Barney, had been struggling with cancer. I have intentionally respected Mary’s privacy and I apologize to you for not sharing any news about Mary’s health sooner. On Monday afternoon Mary passed away very peacefully at home, surrounded by friends and “family”. Her departure was as graceful as the rest of her life. Many people, including Jen, have been doing heroic work to support Mary these last few weeks. Oddly enough Mary was never very excited about transitions though this was about the fastest transition she ever made. And as I struggle to let go of Mary I realize I am terrible with transitions as well. We used to joke about how we liked things just the way they are, thank you very much, so why change what is working already even if it might be less labor intensive. Hard works is its own reward. I used to joke about getting Mary a Cui

Fall Maintenance

Good morning everyone. The sun has been kind to us these past few days and the crew has been spending much time aloft prepping and painting the mast heads and tarring the rig as part of our annual fall maintenance schedule. They were a little silly on tar fumes by the end of the day hence the rat board dance moves. Am I the only one who is reminded of Willy Wonka's little friends at the sight of the crew in their tyvek suits? Schoona-loompas? The smell of tar, after all, is what we sailors live for. Extracted from the stumps and roots of pine trees through dry distillation pine tar will cure what ails you especially some skin conditions and any emotional maladies from being too long away from the sea. All we know for sure is that Mary Day’s rigging is kept hail and hearty by coats of tar mixed with boiled linseed oil. Notice that I specified boiled linseed oil and not raw linseed oil. Tar mix with raw linseed oil will not “kick”. Don’t ask me how I know this… just take my wo

Oh Captain, Oh Captain, Please Don't Rumba!

Good morning everyone. Another 6” of snow fell this weekend and we took a few hours to enjoy the wonders of winter here in New England skiing in the woods. The full Wolf Moon on Saturday causing astronomical high tides plus a 1’ tidal surge brought by the low pressure system meant we had tides over the bulkhead in Camden. At low tide just the opposite happens and the tides dip well below normal. I was able to step to the docks from the beach and get aboard the schooner on Friday after work and all was well. I had an interesting email this morning from a wonderful gentleman looking for a vacation to replace a now defunct “windjammer” sailing experience that formerly sailed in the Caribbean. He sent us a very humorous swashbuckling note, complete with colorful pirate party images, wondering if we might be able to fill the void, complete with canons and limbo parties and would the captain be leading the rumba line? I regretted to tell him that we probably did not offer the booty he was