Redefining Normal
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Sat 31 May 2008 01:56
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13:15.090S 163:06.433W
The time we've spent in this quiet place (Suworrow)
has allowed us to reflect a bit on our new floating life and how the things that
at first seemed amazing, strange, funny or downright ridiculous seem quite
normal to us now.
Normal redefined:
A sky crammed with stars every night
The southern cross constellation just as noticeable
and reliable to the south as the big dipper is to the north
A cookout or party with as many as five
different languages going on at the same time
Picking up a word or two or three from each of
those five different languages
Snorkeling on any given day and seeing huge numbers
of tropical fish that normally would only be seen in a fish
tank Snorkeling with sharks nearby giving us the evil
eye
Using a dinghy like a car
Using a radio like a phone
Floating, 100% of the time
Crawling up onto crumbling concrete wharfs at low
tide with our 'going out to dinner clothes' on
Wearing shorts and a flowered shirt (Don) and
shorts and a tank top (me) as 'going out to dinner clothes'
Days without touching land
Months without touching a dock
Hanging the laundry out to dry
Hanging our underwear out to dry for all to
see
The deep, sapphire blue of the ocean
The bright, unreal turquoise of the
lagoons
No TV except for the occasional Six Feet Under or
Sex and the City or British movie on loan DVD
No traffic except for the ten or so dinghies we
have to park next to when we go into one of those crumbling concrete
wharfs
Buying enough groceries to last two or three
months
Cooking without recipes (never have the right
ingredients anyway)
Plugging in the toaster and turning it on in order
to get the microwave to come on
Manually adjusting the level of the flame in the
oven in order to keep the temperature within a tolerable range (ie: 325 -
425F)
Dinner parties where everyone brings their own
food, drink, plates, silverware and sometimes grilling utensils
Navy showers (water on, get wet, water off, soap
up, water on, rinse off, done)
Receiving mail once every three months
No junk mail
85F all day every day
Sweating all day every day
Wishing for a cloudy day
No shoes
Feeling like sailing around the world and living on
a sailboat is just an everyday normal thing to do
Anne
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