A steamy wake up after a dousing last night, but the sun is out and hopefully it’ll burn off the lingering no-see-ums that seem to be finding me for breakfast.
We had quite a lazy Sunday (I write with serene nostalgia of the day Violet and I had as Andy recalls his hours replacing the external regulator and wiring harness on the alternator while also equalizing the house battery bank). SOME of us had a lazy Sunday, anyway?
We took advantage of the morning temperatures and took a nice walk in the neighborhood before breakfast, and V and I read in the breezy shade before dinghying over to White Sound so we could hit up the pool at the Green Turtle Club and continue to lounge for lunch.
We came home, I swapped Andy for Violet as my dinghy companion, and a harbor putt putt to check out cruising boats commenced. Perusing Yachtworld is almost a part time job for us, dreaming of cruising the world in a boat that works for our various needs, and it’s fun to see options right in front of us for inspiration.
We dinghied into town for dinner at Sundowners, one of Violet’s favorites (and what was a very steady post-Dorian option, with their tarped-up deck and frozen pizzas as some of the only food and accommodations in New Plymouth to start). We planted a Wild Acadia sticker amongst the sport-fishing boat stickers, so people could sit and wonder where Trenton, Maine is as they sip their rum, and then waited out a series of downpours before hopping in the quite-damp dinghy home.
Overall the day brought a elephant to reside on my chest, weighing down the levity of my own surroundings that was so clearly on my plate right in front of me. Lily is fully in the transitional phase of being completely overwhelmed by her situation. New house, new people to live with, new language, new cultural traditions (including late meals and long visits), and the nerves of starting school today. I know in my rational brain that it’ll pass, she’ll gain a comfort and confidence that will at first be manageable, and will turn to ease, but it’s just so hard to see your kid sad, especially so far away. Which then becomes hard to focus on anything else at all.
She IS still very much her hilarious self when reporting on various situations, which brings relief. Her family was visiting another family at one point, and we asked when we’d get a chance to FaceTime. She couldn’t get a handle on how much longer they’d be there, and finally just gave up. “Europeans like to do things for a loooooooong time.” (In the end they had a seven hour visit. She wasn’t joking! (Also do they have fewer people diagnosed with ADD/ADHD? Seems likely.))
So today we head out of Green Turtle, taking a new-to-us route not ‘around the Whale’ but behind it on a line called Don’t Rock Passage. Previous to Dorian the waters were far too shallow for us to pass, but the storm dug out a new, deeper trench for crossing. Perhaps that elephant will lighten up a bit while focusing on not hitting coral heads?
