Tis the Season...

We finished packing everything away and straightening up the boat in preparation for departing the marina tomorrow but according to the weather forecast, there’s a hard freeze warning with gale force winds tonight and tomorrow (from the Arctic Blast that’s pervading S. Florida). After checking with the office to see if there was still room for us at the dock, we decided to stay. Why worry about dragging all night in strong winds and stronger still gusts, when we can stay at the dock and have heat too!?! I don’t think many people will be moving in the next couple of days but sometimes they need the dock space for the boats that are moving out of the boatyard and into the water. Luckily, we were told that we still had the dock space. Yay!

We put up our little Christmas tree and Wayne hung the wreath we brought from home on the bow of the boat. Then we went to do the grand tour of the Bayfield’s here. There really was quite a difference between the two B-32s. Wayne could actually stand up in Sharpie’s Dream but not in Buckshot. That was a surprise. It was wonderful to be able to see both boats and the alterations that had been done to them. I’d never been in a Bayfield 32 before so it was a treat to visit them and to have them visit us. While ours has more storage space than the 32, theirs had a more “open” feel to it, similar to the B-40. The 40 ft has both the open space and more storage.

Back on the boat we lit up our Christmas tree. What a nice homey feeling when the lights of the little tree are turned on. They glow with warm color in the cabin. It never feels like Christmas on the boat. With the lack of snow and no large pine trees, it just doesn’t look like Christmas when the palms are decorated in ornaments, lights, and tinsel. It’s never felt right without snow.
But looking at the little tree glowing with warm light on our table brought me a pang of Christmas’s past.
A bittersweet pain of memories flooded through my brain and throughout my body in the matter of seconds. I missed the special memories of love and family that I always felt at Christmas.
Always at Christmas.
That was a special time for family - at least my family. Somehow that little tree, shining through the dark transported me, for a brief moment, to a place in the past that is now gone. While a painful moment. It was also a wonderful moment filled with an appreciation that I could recapture a moment lost in the past. Those who made the time, to share their love and time with me, for all those Christmas’s – I’m remembering you with much love right now. Thank you for the love, thank you for the time.

It’s not the presents under the tree, or the amount spent, but the gift of love, patience and effort. Thank you for the lessons learned in life.