Learning the Ropes

The reason I chose Shalom on the Water as my blog title is hard to put into words, but I'll try. In the simplest explanation, I find my peace on the water. I grew up on the water every weekend during the summers: ski bobbing, water skiing, slaloming and eating snacks off a floatable tray. I also grew up at Maranatha and Harbor Beach every summer, two of my favorite places on the water. For me, the water provides a calmness and acceptance I find no place else.

I drive over the causeway to Brown's Creek, where I'm learning to be a sailor, and all my worries are washed away. I feel my body relax as I breathe in the refreshing air. The wind is in my hair and the masts clank against each other as I put my sail up for an afternoon on the water! At first I am unsure of my place as a new sailor, but once I put the line in my hand, I know I am home!

Out on the water, I practice gybing and coming about while Ernie (my teacher) and his dogs, Shug and Blossom, talk to me through a megaphone. "Gybe" he says..."come about" he calls and I amazingly follow. I watch my head as the boom crosses over the boat and I catch the wind on the other side! There is such excitement when the "wind gods" act in my favor, as Ernie would say. The power I have to move the boat by sailing in harmony with the wind is quite exhilarating and a little bit scary at the same time! I hang on and enjoy the ride, the wind filling my sail and my soul.

I know sailing is in my blood and I was born to do this! The water, you might say, completes me! :)