Covid took longer than expected to get over, and since I hadn't been doing much, I didn't have a lot to say. A new post with new work will be coming next week. While I haven't written to you, I did write an application for a residency program in the Pacific Northwest. Along with introducing myself and saying why I'd like this opportunity, one of the questions was, What's your favorite childhood toy? The memory came so fast and vividly I wanted to share it with you.
Terri and I together in Beaufort, NC, early in the 90s, a few days after I arrived. My husband a tall ship captain, and hers a competitive sports fisherman.
My favorite childhood toy was my younger sister, Terri. We were two years apart and barely noticed the age difference. With six children in the family, toys were limited. The memory of cold winter mornings, wrapped in blankets and playing cards, where the goal was to lengthen the game of 500 rummy instead of being the first to go out. No three-of-a-kind matches were allowed so that we could have long runs and big points. A parent would deliver tea and oatmeal to the sofa where we played—hot chocolate at Christmas.
Life works things out; we both ended up in North Carolina because of men who loved boats. When my father was dying, we traveled together, and the teamwork we learned as children kicked in with me doing the cooking and her cleaning up. We are a well-oiled machine.
Enchantress is the boat my then-husband and I sailed into Beaufort, NC. She's a full-keel schooner, 60 feet long, with a 5-foot draft. She’s a cork.