In 2005, I was looking back on completing six wonderfully rewarding, totally exhausting summers working as a junior sailing instructor and saying goodbye to all "my" children. I wonder where they are now?
That was also the year that we were eagerly awaiting the birth of our first grandchild. Emily arrived, all in good time, in November.
Today she starts kindergarten. Sniff, sniff!
In September 2006 it seems as if I was in a very serious mood about my sailing. I was threatening to turn Proper Course into a much more focused blog about how to improve sailing performance and cutting out all the trivial, funny stuff. (Thank god that resolution didn't last long!) But while I was still in "serious" mode I set myself a goal to finish in the top half of the fleet at the 2007 Laser Masters Worlds (still a year away) and then headed off to Europe to do some Laser training at Minorca Sailing.
In September 2007 I sailed in the first week of the Ponce de Leon Dinghy series at Eastern Yacht Club in Marblehead and surprised myself by finishing in second place! Woo hoo!
I also wrote a post Ocean Grandad about how my greatest pleasure that summer had not been all the Laser regattas in which I had sailed or even settling into our new house by the sea. It was the opportunity to spend much more time with my granddaughter now that we were living much closer to her.
Did I mention she started kindergarten today? Sniff, sniff.
2008 was the year I was attempting to sail my Laser 100 days in the year. In September I was still doggedly plugging away at this goal, and this was also the month I surprised myself (again) by finishing second in my age group in the highly competitive New England Laser Masters Regatta! Woo hoo!
Towards the end of the month the US Congress decided that the economy didn't really need George Bush's bailout bill, so they voted it down and crashed the US stock market... so I went sailing. Not much has changed, it seems.
2008 was also the summer I turned 60, I really surprised myself by actually winning a Laser regatta (woo hoo!) and we welcomed my first grandson, Aidan, into the world.
He starts pre-school today. Sniff, sniff.
In September 2009, I had to cancel my plans to sail in the 2009 Laser Masters Worlds in Canada in order to attend my younger son's wedding. But I did get my own back by writing about the bridegroom a.k.a. Little Guy and also embarrassing him by publishing this photo.
Last year we were battening down the hatches in preparation for a hurricane (Earl) on Labor Day weekend and I was posting a video of Pete Seeger. It was also the summer we celebrated the birth of my second grandson, Owen, who seemed to master an essential gesture for sailors at a very early age.
And so the world turns, and September comes around again. Another hurricane. Another Pete Seeger song. My wife and I are off to Minorca Sailing again in a few days. And I am thinking of how to prepare for another Laser Master Worlds next year (in Queensland.)
My son (the one that got married two years ago on Labor Day weekend) and his wife came to visit us this weekend. It was good to see them and especially to anticipate with them the birth of a new grandchild in November.
Life is good.
3 comments:
Those have been memorable years ... and of course fast-moving ones, even when you aren't running or sailing.
And I didn't even mention running in this post. Perhaps I'll do a retrospective post on Six Years of Running Slowly.
Nah. Stick to the silly stuff please.
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