The Holidays

A lot has happened since my last blog post. Grace wrote about ten blog posts. I acquired wifi and spent two weeks watching Black Mirror on Netflix, which I would not recommend for one’s mind because that show is crazy.

Before I got caught up watching Netflix, I was going to write about spending the holidays away from home for the first time. It was definitely weird and a little sad to know that we were missing out on spending time with our families and that all of our friends were hanging out without us (shout out to Jessie for Facetiming me in), but our holidays have been memorable in an entirely abnormal way. Who else can say they spent Thanksgiving in a tiny inlet called Okatuppa Creek in Alabama, surrounded by trees and more trees and possibly a wild boar? We had the privilege of being invited to dine on Syzygy with Donna and Dan. Our friends cooked a lovely meal of roast chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes, and a delicious apple pie. We are so thankful.

Christmas was even weirder. As much as we tried to set a Christmas scene, our two strings of battery-operated lights and holiday-scented candles did not disguise the fact that we ate Christmas breakfast (oatmeal) in an unprotected anchorage during a small craft advisory. Woo! Yet, despite wishing I was in Michigan sitting next to a warm fireplace and watching Annabelle’s Wish with my family as is tradition, Grace and I had the best Christmas. We had a two hour downwind sail on the Intracoastal Waterway, surrounded by other boats, islands, and cheerful people kiteboarding. Hitting over seven knots on the knot meter and feeling the warm Florida sunshine was a Christmas gift in itself, second only to being greeted by Lynn and Mr. Pytell at the dock later that day, bearing gifts and cookies from home.

Because I love books as much as boats, I have two good recommendations: I have recently read Reading with Patrick, per suggestion of my mom, about a Teach for America corps member’s experience with literature’s positive impact on her students. I also read The Alice Network, per recommendation of Donna, about a network of women spies in World War I. I loved them both.

Okatuppa Creek

A Christmas sail on the ICW