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Hip, hip, hooray!

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Good morning everyone. Well it was a wild weather weekend here at the global headquarters. Storm force winds were observed offshore and I am guessing they made here. We tried to sleep with the windows open but the wind was just too loud. Nature has a way of “reefing” the trees against the density of the cold winter winds and Saturday did a good job of depositing quite a few piles of leaves in the dooryard. Jen and I were up most of Saturday night on watch, checking the mooring lines and chafe gear. The house didn’t move much more than a inch or so off the foundation. Trees were down across the driveway. Sawyer and I had a few hours of bucking up firewood and chipping limbs. We had a few calls with the fire department sawing tree tops out of the local roadways.

Friday night we hosted our annual crew dinner here at the house with a surf and turf celebration. Sawyer built the campfire complete with tiki torches. Jen prepared a huge feast. I doubled as grill master serving sirloins and marinated chicken, and lobster chef. Once again, they couldn’t finish it all! Even Rob who seems to have a hollow leg reached maximum capacity. As I looked around the room I was humbled by the presence of such an amazing group of people and how they had found their way through what I will guess is the hardest summer of their lives. I am amazed at how well they accepted each other as team mates not just with tolerance but with absolute joy. They sat around the table and sang “I’ll Fly Away”. Jim Dugan Dot Com just couldn’t keep his hands off our computer tweaking a few things that will surely keep our learning curve on the steep. Mary just couldn’t keep out of the galley arriving several hours ahead of the fete to give Jen a hand with the food. I come away understanding just how blessed I am to know each of these individuals. They have taught me to laugh a little more, to be a little more patient. We can’t thank them enough for all that they have given. Three cheers for the crew. Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray. Hip, hip, hooray!

May you all be as blessed as we have been this season to be surrounded by such amazing people. Have a great day. Be well. Do good.
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