Closer my love, to thee

I LIVE 2.6 MILES from my boat. It takes me about 12 minutes by car to get there. I guess I’m one of the lucky ones, because I know people who live hours away from their boats. I’ve often wondered how they feel when they arrive at their boats and remember that they’ve left a special tool or something vital at home. Or, worse, when they get home and realize they’ve left the forehatch ajar, or the head seacock open.

I don’t think I could bear it. The farthest I've ever lived from my boat was five miles, and that was bad enough. Five miles of city traffic. Things have improved somewhat since then.

My dream, my fantasy, has always been to have my boat floating on a deepwater mooring in front of my house. It won’t ever happen, I know, but wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to step aboard and sail anywhere in the world?

I’ve always found it fascinating that the water my boat floats in is actually part of a highway that reaches every port in the world. It leads to every ocean beach and island washed by the great seas, to large cities and tiny island villages in every continent all around the world.

The exciting thing is not that I would ever do it, but the fact that I could do it if I wanted to. We are not free to do everything we wish in this world, no matter how much our government assures us that we enjoy complete freedom in our great democracy. We don’t have the freedom to drive on the wrong side of the road, for example, or travel in space, or even to fly like a bird, for that matter.

But a boat gently stirring on a mooring in front of your house is a tangible reminder that you do have one of life’s greatest freedoms. And those of us who don’t necessarily want to exercise our right to take advantage of it can still enjoy our dreams, knowing that they are indeed possible.

Today’s Thought
We are not free; it was not intended we should be. A book of rules is placed in our cradle, and we never get rid of it until we reach our graves. Then we are free, and only then.
— E. W. Howe, Howe’s Monthly

Tailpiece
“I see you had a date with John.”
“No, I tore my dress on a nail.”