Last at Home.
Departure from Houghton brought us plenty of clear skies and an excitement to be in familiar waters once more. Zephyrus has truly become an extension of ourselves, much like "the back of my hand" in ways of knowing it well by its feel and use...and before long, out of muscle memory, things just seem to happen and work.
In this blog, since it will be the last touching upon the end of this particular journey, I have tossed in photos of no particular meaning, as they are simply images of our last day, partly because I am at somewhat of a loss for words and partly because I feel this an appropriate way to bring all of this to completion.
So enjoy these pictures in silence, as you visually step into the morning of departure out of the canal, into the wide wondrous waters of Superior, as we meandered through the Huron Islands, as we approached the shores Huron Mountain Club, as we sailed a perfect sail (5.7 knots at the max) for hours and hours, not really concerned with our destination or the amount of time it would take to get us there, as we spontaneously skipped our tentative destination of Big Bay and continued homeward doubling our day's journey, between the joys of an open sky and the nerve wracking sounds of sails that won't stay full when the wind dies, to watching the shimmering sparkling waters on the water as the sun sinks for the night, to surfing wave after wave after wave flying home, as we were struck with the consistency of beauty that the setting sun always has to offer, to passing ore boats on our homeward stretch, and into the safety of Marquette harbor in the night.
How can this be said. We are home now, at last, you could say. Immediately I am confronted with all the possible tasks that can clutter the mind and quickly wash away the memories of the overwhelming simplicity of open skies and endless seas. Something about all of this clutter and task filled life we've returned to, is though, oddly refreshing. So often people tell me their dreams to escape to a quiet place in the world and live in a modest home and proceed to seek out as much solitude and sustainability and simplicity as possible. I agree with their dreams, as I agree with ideal theories and the poetic nature they often bring with them, however, in genuine kindness for the sake of their dreams, I often refrain from fully expressing a thought.
Mankind, womankind, have been created for purpose that goes beyond the serving of themselves. Seasons of solitude are absolutely necessary to our sanity, yes, yet when given an "endless summer" does one truly go on appreciating all aspects of summer day after day after day after day after day? We are created to hope, dream and aspire along with the need to arrive at the things hoped for, bring to reality the things dreamed and work very hard towards our aspirations.
As we approached the end of this journey, though very short one on the scale of years, we were reminded with thoughts of our travels two years past. When, then approaching the end of close to nine months of boat-car-plane-train-motorcycle-taxi-bus-foot travel, these thoughts of simplicity vs systems surfaced. What does one do when the magic of travel itself fades and becomes a routine, or on more extreme cases, what does the drug leave an individual when the 'high' fades...except some disappointment with reality and cause to return to other kinds of ever-stimulating experiences. So people travel on or find all sorts of ways to occupy the need for stimulation.
Something about the minor clutter we have in our home is refreshing, in that, most of it means something. As we are preparing for our futures, and opportunities to step into greater things, all these little pieces we left behind, are all preparation for that. It was as if we had returned into someone else's life as we walked into our humble home with high ceilings (in comparison with Zephyrus that is) and squishy beds for the best sleep of our life. These lives we left behind, for our short time of refreshment and solitude, I found, a deeper part of us was yearning to come back to the life that always has an endless flow of small tasks. The accomplishment and growth that comes from such things.
So maybe it's a system of the world and money and careers and always surrounded by the small tasks in between, but man, do I ever feel that, somehow, deep inside our human nature, we have been designed to be selfless workers day after day after day.
The great paradox, we think we want such "simple task-free lives" in a complex world, when truly, we thrive when we're challenged and driven, especially most of the time when it's in ways we have not chosen.
When the wind is not in your favor and you're tired of getting beat up by sharp corners and rocking waves, to allow the un-chosen circumstances around you to continue in their chaos and clutter, while maintaining internal peace and stability and JOY for what's happening to you.
Now that's a real challenge.
M
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