21 posts
Musings
While I Kiss the Sky
This bay is a crater: round, and ringed by mountains except where it opens onto the sea. It's the most astonishing feeling to live here, like the earth is cupping you in the palm of her hand.…
Quantum Physics and the Joy of Not-Knowing
Just now, I'm giddily anthropomorphizing quantum physics.…
One Revolution of the Earth Around the Sun
Today is the one year anniversary of my quarantine. HOT HOLY JELLY DOUGHNUTS!…
Letters from Quarantine
In the early weeks of the COVID-10 pandemic, when quarantines were new, I sent a supportive email to my sangha (spiritual community) most days. This is the best of them. They speak to hard times, grief, hope, and most of all, to love.…
Now What?
James and I are finding that folks are curious about our plans. Some people want to know what's happening next. Some people want to know about our long term plans. So let's talk!…
On Wildness
A few nights ago in the dreamtime, James and I were in the forest sitting at the top of a slide. A deep, narrow ravine was quite near and a pair of huge red wolves were running along its far side. They…
It's all the Same F*cking Day, Man
I hadn't had more than three weeks without work (except for 2 surgical recoveries) since I was 16 years old until I stopped teaching just before we left San Francisco last fall. That's 32 years of work. For…
The Loss of a Foremother
Today I sing for Carolee Schneeman, the glorious, ferociously incarnate, brilliant artist, who has left her body at the age of 79. "I guess my best advice is this: Be stubborn and persist, and trust yourself on what you love. You…
Stumbling into Magic: El Cladavista
After we completed our work in the boatyard we decided to linger in Mazatlán; Carnaval was not far off and Mazatlán's Carnaval is quite famous, one of the largest in the world. Carnaval is a public celebration of indulgence that…
Danger vs. Fear
Everyone: BUT WHAT ABOUT PIRATES? Me: Actually, carjacking is more common than piracy at sea! Everyone: OMG RLLY? BUT WHAT ABOUT SHARKS? Me: Sharks aren't actually very interested in people; that's just a movie thing. Everyone: BUT SAILING…
The Southern Crossing: No Resistance to the Darkness
for Mary Oliver, whose spirit left her body during this trip, and whose words have long guided my heart First Leg: It was a couple of hours from La Paz, the Peace, to Isla Espiritu Santo, the Island of the Holy Spirit.…
We Forgot About Netflix
When we lived on land, like just about everyone else we knew, we watched Netflix after dinner pretty much every day. Recently, I realized that I couldn't remember the last time we'd watched Netflix despite having been at…
Parallel Play
Once the realization is accepted that even between the closest human beings infinite distances continue, a wonderful living side by side can grow, if they succeed in loving the distance between them which makes it possible for each to see the other…
Anxiety, Peace, and Our Ditch Bag
One of the things that James and I love about sailing is that emergency preparedness is, for good sailors, a natural way of being. As mainstream life in America grows ever more swaddled by layers of technology and commercialism, we are fascinated…
I Want to Spend the Rest of My Life Everywhere, With Everyone, One to One, Always, Forever, Now
Yesterday I hugged someone, one of my dearest humans, for the last time in our friendship here, as they will be out of town for the next couple weeks, and they cried in my arms and I in theirs. The tears were…
Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This
Yesterday I wanted to lie down and found that all six of the sleeping surfaces aboard Rejoice were covered with projects that were on pause for some reason. We woke today on the settees in the saloon (the bench-couches in the main…
The Garden of the Mind
I've had the habit of hanging words to cultivate myself for as long as I can remember. The world is full of messages that are designed to sculpt our thoughts and desires. I like to counter the capitalist agenda by…
Everything You Call Mine is Holding You
One of the things that people ask most consistently about the path that we have taken is "Do you miss your things?" The simple answer is: No. The longer answer is: Our path toward living with a smaller footprint aboard…
In the Wee Hours: Anxiety and the Nature of Comfort
At some point in the dark and wee hours last night, I got up, grabbed a flashlight, and lifted a floorboard to peer down into the bilge, bottom of our boat. I'd like to tell you why, because it'…
Darkness and Light
This bit of backstory was written May 12, 2017. Last night we went to a talk at OCSC, our beloved local sailing school, about Blue Water Cruising -- which means crossing oceans for pleasure in a sailboat, as we aim to do.…
Upon Awakening
I have written this poem before. May I write this poem again; it is worthy every time: the orchid blossoms are opening.…