Winter

SHIP'S LOG:

I haven't got up the gumption to hit the sail loft yet. You don't now what boring, dully repetitive, mind-numbing work is until you have worked on building sails. Truth be told, I am also in no hurt to stitch my fingers, burn myself with a cutting iron or pull a muscle in my back from being hunched over the cutting table. It is truly a drag but one which I will have to get back into unless I want to pay mucho buckaroos come spring in order to get my sails back. And what is a sailboat without sails?

I have done such exciting things as change the oil in my car, go to the bank, hit the "Paperback Book Trader" and check my mail in the Groton location. Overwhelming, n'cest pas?One thing that I have enjoyed is dropping in to visit with people who, over the course on my journey, bailed me out with a little cash, in some cases a lot of cash, in order to keep me financially afloat. If, or I should say when, The Publisher's Clearinghouse Prize Patrol finally tracks me down, all of that assistance gets repaid, if only to allow them to be generous again to the next person in need. I have discovered there certainly are a lot f us out there. It is wonderful beyond description how each of them was so genuinely glad to see me and offered further help the first thing. Not being completely out of the woods yet, that time may come, but for right now, it is quite humbling again to know that the help is there, ready and willing to be given.

The calluses are slowly coming back to the finger tips, far too slowly though. No blisters yet, then again that is because I have the good sense and lack the dedication to play until they form. And the fingering memory is returning too, but the dexterity is lagging far behind. It is not just a lack of "practice," ol Arthur Itishas expanded his foothold, or should I say handhold. As disquieting as it will be to the people around me from time to time, I am going to have to get back to some serious knuckle-cracking to loosen up all those left-hand finger joints. All in all I can play for about an hour before it all goes to pot and the finger tips scream and the fingers get clumsy and I really sound terrible. This too will pass and one day it will all fall into place and be smooth as it ever was, but getting there is not the most fun in the world. Then again, no pain, no gain . . . the motto of everyone who has the gain and has forgotten the pain as well as physical therapists everywhere!

Ed, who owns the house in which I sit, got back from a five day trip to Vero Beach and is complaining about how cold it is up here. Actually, he is lucky as if he had been down there last year, he wouldn't be complaining at all. Last year, Florida was in the midst of one heck of a cold snap that would last until January 3rd. A couple of days from now, one year ago that is, I pulled into the Coco Village Marina for Christmas. Wonderful place, wonderful people and they had a sauna. I, along with many others who had head south for the warmth of Florida, spent a lot of time in that sauna. So far, this winter has been a snap. I am sure we will get cold and snow, but the longer it stays away, the better for it will then last less longer and be less severe. Does that sound like wishful thinking?