And so the story begins....again, after 4 months gone.
Before we left Florida in early July.....
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| Me and "it's me Al" |
.......we rendezvoused one more time with my first college roommate, Alison....aka "it's me Al!" That was her nickname as college freshmen in 1977, and mine was...... "Wally." Don't ask.
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| This is the last palm tree this car will ever see... |
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| What happens in Nawlins, stays in Nawlins.... |
...we bought a 4-wheel drive car (in Florida-- hard to find actually) and then ventured for 5 days back across the southern US--via New Orleans... to Dallas for time with relatives and old friends.....
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| Big D.... |
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| More great old college buds @ the Burgins |
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| Wyly laughter |
.....to the dusty plains of west Texas to visit Leslie's brother, Roger, fiancé Vicki and son Dylan Wyly in Lubbock.
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| Housesitting jobs suck....wink* |
Then it was on to the mountains of northern New Mexico where we have a housesitting (and cat-sitting) job for some friends. It was a beautiful summer at 8,000ft.
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| Jack and Lily---double love---double hairy clothes |
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| New Mexico sunsets forever in my heart |
Over the 4 months, we worked a variety of odd jobs. One memorable one was working security for a crowd of 7,000+ fans at an Alabama Shakes concert in our local park (7,000 people is larger than our town population).
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| Fried Wyly girls---with niece Stacy :) |
We also volunteered for another 3 day music festival, and then we ventured to Santa Fe to help our niece and husband work their fried food wagon at the annual Renaissance Festival. Have you ever tried a Pickle Dog? You should. It's their personal savory invention and simply amazing.
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| Rusty and red leaves |
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| "If I ain't happy here, I ain't happy nowhere..." |
We were also hired to clean up and winterize several fall gardens. And what a beautiful fall it was. We love the changing of the seasons and had missed this the last 2 years while down in Florida.
While in Taos, Tim produced 3 more videos—-all 3 can be found on youtube.com—-just search for TimReevesVideos or try this link: https://www.youtube.com/user/TimReevesVideo
He currently has a total of 54 self produced videos on his channel. Some serious, some….not….so….serious, like “Zorro’s Treasure Hunt” featuring a local eccentric Taos artist and crazy thespian friends.
Leslie pulled the beads and jewelry supplies out of storage and fired back up her Etsy shop—free shipping for the holidays!!!
This right brain creativity is just what we needed to balance out the left brain survival programing that a 35ft sailboat takes. Balance is always good.
I also took some of your encouraging comments to heart, and starting writing a story. Forever Blue is actually more like episodes, like an hour long TV series. I drew my ideas and inspiration from the many colorful alternative minded characters that populate Taos, NM—an unforgettable and quirky town. I’ve thought about this written portrayal for years. When I arrived back in town in July, I unleashed my satirical view of what Taos is like….in my mind anyway. Quirky it is. That’s why we all love Taos so much. I’ve got 2 episodes written and mostly edited, with more coming. I might let them go public….and then again, I might not.
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And then it was time to come back to Fiesta for a month. A time that we were both looking forward to…..and yet, a time to make a decision….a big decision.
Keep her? or sell her?
It was a warm Saturday night when our friends, Mike and Patti picked us up at the Tampa airport and drove us to the marina, where Fiesta sat glowing under a near full moon in her slip. They had cleaned & polished the whole enchilada——all 35ft+ of her. They stocked the fridge with yummy tastes and favorite sailor beverages….and set the table with dazzling beautiful yellow sunflowers. Wow. I was so in love with our sailboat and friends…love you guys.
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| Where art thou--C-dock? |
We settled into our life on the water on C-dock in the marina. But soon realized….C-dock feels like a ghost town. Where’s the dock camaraderie we were so famous for?? Alas, that’s what you can do with a mobile condo on the water. Change neighborhoods. Change is good, though often difficult. Time to move on.
Which brings us to our life change. For 2 years, we have boldly created and accomplished a personal dream I held for 42 years Tim and I have had a short but exciting adventure of life aboard a sailboat. Two voyages across open oceans actually felt more like a lifetime and we celebrate the accomplishment of an experience that most will never know, but will live with us forever. Traveling to turquoise waters and sandy white beaches was part of it, though, in reality, not everyday was a day at the beach. Boats are tenuous and temperamental...and demanding. In this second half of our lives, we have adapted to a whole new lifestyle of survival, like the overwhelming learning curve of a 35HP diesel engine and brain taxing navigational instruments for example.
Highlights----the cruising friends....invaluable, love you salty buggers! Mother ocean and smiling dolphins....unsurpassed. Life on wooden docks and white mooring balls....unique. Living by the weather and winds....exciting!
Wouldn’t change ANY of if for anything else in the world. Best 2.5 years of my life.
Our decision to sell Fiesta has been one of the most difficult in our life. But for a variety of logical and complicated reasons, we will let her go.
There is a large financial responsibility to a boat for it's co-operation and health.
A boat is a luxury item that soaks up lots of $$$—while depreciating.
That being said, we also want to say there's much more to our decision as well. Not only do we miss the mountains and friends in our hometown, we want to also be closer to family. Though a boat represents freedom on one level, it does hold you captive on others. We have an exciting desire to focus on another new type of adventure that includes more travel and other personal interests.
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| Bones says--"hello Beastie" |
But dry yer eye’s mates and fret not all Ye blog followers!!!! Arrrrgh…..
It’s not to say that we are done with sailing or adventuring or pirating or hangovers. Quite the contrary!! There are charters and crews awaiting us, without the stress of throwing another thou$and into the bilge.
If we can personally accept this decision and wash it down with a shot (or bottle) of rum——then so can you too!! The Reeves will go onward—forward—swashbuckling down the steep slopes of yonder Taos Ski Valley for this winter. Our new job is to ski around (oh darn) and pick up forlorn and misguided beginner skiers and drown them (just kidding) in mugs of hot coco. I’m only trading in my Yo-Ho rum for those traditional “little guys” (schnapps or wild turkey) hiding behind the trees across the vast snowy mountain that we reverently consider close to God. I realize it sounds like we have turned into alcoholics, but if you all know us, it’s all in good fun and/or.... drowning of political sorrows....it's a new world.
So dear friends….ditch us or join us….as we adventure on to the next open door in life…back on dirt (and/or snow—just another form of water after all).
When one door closes, another one opens.
Yo-ho-ho! Happy Holidays to one and all!!!
