Enchanted

We are feeling the pull of summer here. The days are consistently warm now, and in spite of old man winter trying one last time to lay his hand on us at the coast, the sun is out and bathing suits, baggies and tanks have taken over our town.

With the warmth and gorgeous weather comes the inability for us to stay focused on our home schooling. We procrastinate in the morning until the next thing we know, it is lunch and we have not even opened up a book.

I find myself drawn to the boat more and more. It is where I want to be…surrounded by her warm teak wood, the heat of the deck underneath my feet, and the sound of the wind in the rigging

So, to shake things up a bit, we have been heading to the boat mid-morning and spending the day there. We sit in the cockpit and do math, science and read while gulls fly past and ducks beg for food off the transom.

You would think that is would be distracting, but the fact of the matter is, we get more done there and I don’t find myself frustrated by resistance from him. Even math gets done without the constant struggle we normally have.

………………….well, I never said he liked it. Blek, me either, but it is a necessary evil. A tool he will use to figure out how the universe works. So learn it he must.

After school work is done, we make lunch and eat it on the bow of the boat, watching the weekday activity on the docks that is so different from the hustle and bustle of the weekend. The live aboards wash their boats, carry laundry back and forth from the clubhouse, and everyone has their coffee in the shade of a palapa, talking about the weather, fishing conditions and other boat talk. We watch for a bit, then we go swimming.

When we were in the process of buying Calypso, it seemed like such a hassle. From the time we found her to the day they handed me the keys, it took almost 6 weeks. It was so frustrating and maddening. We had planned on staying at the coast for the month of June, but the difficulties in securing title on the boat extended our stay by a month, and in that time we fell in love with this place. You see where I am going with this? That’s right….coincidences. I just don’t believe in them. I believe in fate. That things happen for a reason.

The name we chose for the boat is significant to me on so many levels. Since I was a child, I was drawn to the sea. I grew up watching Jacques Cousteau, and would climb aboard Calypso with him every week to explore the mysteries of the deep. I ached to be part of that world. I knew, even as a child, that God had given me this desire. It was part of me, the way my hand and foot were. I loved the ocean and all of its creatures with a passion that was palpable to those around me.

Like some migrating animal, at 19 I pointed my car south and rooted myself in sand. Galveston was my Archipelago, my Galapagos…a place that shaped me and helped me evolve into what God had willed for me all along.

I lived there for 12 years………and then we moved inland. I believe that moving from my watery world and onto solid, arid ground was meant to be. We needed to grow and change in ways that were not possible in Galveston.

It would be another 12 years before we found our way back to the coast.

I am not sure I could have continued to appreciate my aquatic gifts if we had remained in Galveston. I think I lost myself when we moved inland, and only by losing yourself can you find your way back to your purpose and appreciate it for what it is.

Calypso brings me full circle. I am that child again, splashing in the water, turning over every rock in search of creatures, wild hair flowing, a smile perpetually on my face. Last week, I stretched myself out in the sun on her bow as we sailed over a glassy sea. I reached out my arm and tried to touch the water………..I don’t want to just touch it, I want to understand it. What an amazing thing God made.  I want to help others understand it. I want to fight to save it and all of the creatures it holds. I truly believe that God planted this gift inside of me and it is time to let it grow again. Time to plant it in my children as well.

They will grow up in a place that I only dreamed of as a child. They will splash and play in the waters of my childhood mind, and I will get the joy of teaching them about it and experiencing it with them.

Jacques Cousteau once said “”One protects what one likes….and one likes what enchanted us.”

The definition of enchant is:   to attract and move deeply : rouse to ecstatic admiration

I intend, with Calypso, to enchant my children.