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Boat Birthing

Extracting Aeon 

 

(to start of project)

Wow. This is turning into quite a week.

The boats came out on Sunday. Now the first hurricane of the season is headed this way. This week we’re closing down the company where I have worked for over 20 years. I’ve had to beg, borrow and steal time for 2 1/2 years to work on these boats; now starting Friday I’ll have all the time I need. Bizarrely, the largest earthquake I’ve every experienced, 5.9, felt all up and down the East Coast, struck only moments ago as I write this. It was centered right here in the little town of Mineral. Funny how turning points and transitions can ripple out through a life. Weird.

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Intermission

One that didn’t get away.

 

(to start of project)

Doug, Giselle and the kids got in from California on their whirlwind tour down the coast, and he set a day aside for boating. No sailing – this time – but we did manage to get on the water for a much needed break from jobs and stress. A little float fishing trip down the James was definitely in order, on a Friday when the river isn’t crazy with tubers.

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Haymaking in Sunshine

Bumper crop of fresh hay, rolled and ready

 

(to start of project)

Wow. Signs of summer. Magnolia blooms scent the air with lemons in the evening, and the rumble-hum of tractors cutting and bailing hay can be heard deep into dusk.

The first hay cutting is the biggest and best cut of the year. This is a big year for hay, too – twice as many rolls filling the fields as years past. All the rain and cool weather. It looks like a random modern art installation when the fields are full of those big round rolls. One day the grass is elbow high. The next day it’s cut and laying down flat like a blond carpet. Then boom the field is green again and covered with golden rolls – giant toffees spilled across a green felt tablecloth. Or a game of Brobdingnagian billiards.

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Weird Weather (updated)

Hyacinths blooming in fresh snow

 

(to start of project)

A few weeks ago we had snow on daffodil, crocus and hyacinth blooms. Yesterday it was almost 90 degrees. Abnormal is pretty normal here this time of year. I have photos taken several years ago of roses blooming in a snow storm. They don’t sleep well nights at the local vineyards and orchards until April is over and done with.

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Boats of Guatemala: Lake Atitlan Cayucos

Dugout Canoes on the beach at Santa Catarina

 

(to start of project)

The boats native to Lake Atitlan are the cayucos, a unique form of dugout canoe. You see these boats all over the lake, from dawn to dusk, though usually near shore where the fish are, as fishing is their primary use. Rows of them are pulled up on the beaches of every small village and town along the shore. Continue reading “Boats of Guatemala: Lake Atitlan Cayucos”