The
water is sparkling this sunny morning in this quiet cove. It throws its
dazzling reflections onto the white fiberglass over my head in the V-berth. And
a deep feeling of bliss suffuses my body. There is simply nothing more
luxurious or blissful than lying late in bed on a small boat, knowing that
people on other boats in the anchorage are dutifully scrubbing their decks,
wiping the dew off their varnish, and generally hopping around attending to the
tasks of the day.
But
it wasn’t always thus. I was brought up by proverb, idiom, maxim, and
commandment, both Biblical and parental. (“Thou shalt not question the hour of
bedtime.”) It was a time and place when Puritan virtues were esteemed. I never
took too much food and I always cleaned my plate. I never talked to an adult
until spoken to. I was taught to submerge myself in the team, never to stand
out from the crowd. I washed behind my ears because cleanliness was next to
godliness. I always went to bed on time. I never argued back. I would never
have dreamed of having my nose pierced or my navel tattooed. Punctuality was
the courtesy of kings, of course, and lying abed in the morning equated to
sloth, one of the deadly sins. Early to bed, early to rise, on the other hand,
made a man healthy, wealthy and wise.
Actually,
I couldn’t tell if it made me healthy, but I certainly became suspicious, years
later, when it failed to make me wealthy or wise. I eventually had a serious
talk with my conscience, which agreed (though rather reluctantly) that lying
abed in the morning, though possibly sluggish, unproductive, and anti-social,
should not be classified as one of the seven deadly sins.
Nevertheless,
deep in the folds of my grey matter there still lurks a primeval suspicion that
my parents were right. And that’s what makes things so delightful. There is
simply no bliss greater, no pleasure more profound, than that which springs
from sin.
I
draw the sleeping bag up around my chin and shut my eyes. A happy smile parts
my lips. It’s morning. It’s late. I’m still in bed. It’s wonderful. I’m
probably sinning, and will be for another half-hour at least. And I don’t give
a damn.
Today’s Thought
The avenues in my
neighborhood are Pride, Covetousness and Lust; the cross streets are Anger,
Gluttony, Envy and Sloth. I live over on Sloth, and the style on our street is
to avoid the other thoroughfares.
—
John Chancellor, New York, 24 Dec 84
Tailpiece
“Please
tell His Honor what the man said when you opened the door.”
“Your
Honor, he said he hadn’t had a bite for five days.”
“And
what did you do?”
“I
bit him.”
(Drop by every Monday,
Wednesday, Friday, for another Mainly about Boats column.)
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