Going Inland

So…we went inland for the Easter holiday, to see family in La Porte.  Funny how we’ve blended into the weave of fellow IBC’s (Islanders by Choice) here on our Gulf Coastal Island home.  Even still, we long for the water, the rocking back and forth of our sailboat, the clinking of the masts in the wind.  We visited with a local marina the day after Easter, after we got back to the island from a second trip to La Porte in two days because Nico left his phone at his Mom’s the day before.  I have to admit, that day was a good one: lunching with Nico’s dad (the baby’s only living Grandpa), the lolly-gag-of-a-drive back to the island, the visit to the marina…and the smell of the water…down along the slips.

My wanderlust is really getting to me these days, and I miss our sailboat more and more.  If not this year, since we just can’t bring ourselves to sell our old girl, I think next year we’ll certainly be bringing our boat to her new island home.  For now, Nico and I are still working on new tunes for Gypsy Vin Rose, and getting ready to start touring…again.  Gigs…?  Well, that’s another story.  If only we could get around the little problem of ‘no sitter’ and no room for another passenger (Grandma) in the Peniki van, we’d be good to go.

For now, I continue to write songs, and work on getting my voice back after a long battle with the crud.  Honing my mandolin skills, while continuing to remodel our old Gypsy Caravan and Island home Mermaid Mansion is the way I’ve been spending my days lately.  That…and going to the beach almost every day, if we’re not biking to Nixi’s favorite play park, has become our Island way-of-life.  I can’t complain, though I sure do miss the smell of our boat, and the cold spray of water splashing up onto the deck as we cut through the waves…sailing into the sunset.

I guess you could say I’m kind of ‘sea sick’, though in an entirely different way.  I miss the water, instead of being sick from it.  :  )  So for now, I’ll just remember-when, and continue to work on decorating Mermaid Mansion.  This week…I’m sewing new couch cushions.  And I must admit, I am so very proud of the way our old caravan is ‘coming about’!  Next up…sewing a custom quilt for Nixi.  I have the kewlest Hippie Van fabric I bought from Ebay, which I’ll pair with a flower child sort-of print.  I can hardly wait to see how it turns out!  I’ll post pics for anyone who wants to see how it all comes together.

For now, I think I’ll get back to my stitch-witchery, and making my vintage trailer a comfortable island home.  Cheers to all who read my scribblings, and Blessings to those of you who comment.  :  )  And…Fair Winds to all you salty Sailors and deep-sea Pirates out there.  May you find true happiness…just over the horizon.

.V..

Cap’n Nico

Nixi Down Below in the Galley

Getting Underway

Relaxing Down Below With Some Cartoons

Sunset Sails

Me at the Helm = Bliss!

 

Learning to Let Go

To cut to the chase, this has been quite a week…indeed!  Nico had four days off from work, and we had big plans for our mini-vaca…then I had to go and get sick!  Ugh!!!  *cave woman is back*  Even still, I kept up so-as-not to ruin the fun; riding bikes to pirate play park…only to get caught in the rain (that REALLY didn’t help); the next day riding down to the bayou (in 35 to 40 mile an hour winds), then wondering why I felt worse?  I guess you could say, I was in denial that I had fell victim to the crud!  No matter how you define it, it’s never good.

So, here I am…nearing the weekend, still balling up tissues like they’re going out of style.  My nose is raw, my throat is scratchy and hoarse, and my head aches.  Not to mention the ‘drama’ we’ve had this week: the dumb A neighbor shooting over the fence…very near our house, and the spectacle that followed; my oldest child getting mad at me…(again!), and trashing me on ‘fakebook’ all over again.  Only this time, I fought back and let her little butt have it!  She deleted me from her list, so I doubt she saw my final attempt to correct the grown-up child I should corrected years ago.  I can only hope and pray that she will overcome whatever it is that is troubling her so much.  I might think it’s me if it weren’t for her flipping out on her brother just a few days before.  I fear the worst, but still keep my faith.  I guess I still can’t let go.

Speaking of letting go…  In light of the ‘events’ of this past few days, I have come to that place (You know the one where I realize I am not where I want to be–not doing what I feel I am meant to do), once again, and am now in full-blown Wanderlust mode!  I knew I couldn’t fight it for long.  :  (  It’s just who I am.  I am a nomadic spirit, never meant to sit still for long.  I do everything I can to pacify my time in one place, but it never fails; the ‘clever North wind always find me’. 

Today I’ve been thinking of Homochitto National Forest…in Mississippi.  The Grandfather Pines are whispering to me from afar, my Spirit feels more alive at the thought of loading Peniki and taking to the road; never to look back….never to return…to keep seeking-out new adventures of life.  Just picturing when we were there, makes me feel…home sick.  It’s something I cannot explain.  I just know, this place…where we are now, is not our final stop; unless, of course, He has other plans.  

In the meantime, we’ve decided to start ‘letting go’…again.  It’s time to start lighting our load once more, and readying for the road.  And while it might take ’til next year for us to get underway.  I know at this point in my life, I am more than ready to let go!  

Blessings & .V.

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