• Location: The Couch
• Mood: grumpy

Sailing Calm Waters

The annual fall/winter winds and rain have descended on Washington for the foreseeable future. It's been wet and windy for a couple of weeks now, but every so often we get a clear day that makes up for the stretches of dreary ones that we get this time of year. Earlier this week I had to head over across the Sound to Port Orchard for a lunch meeting with the editor of QuickThrottle where I'm writing that monthly column. The nice thing about such a trip is it involves taking the ferry across the Sound. On a sunny day with smooth water, there is nothing like it. I was aboard the Ferry M/V Issaquah, heading west past Vashon Island to Southworth. There is nothing like a ferry ride in the sun to lift one's spirits make you forget about life's bullshit -- even if it's not on a motorcycle.

In a way it's very similar to being out on the bike. Alone with ones thoughts, the sun on your face, the wind blowing through your hair (or in my case, lack of it), the smell of the fresh air, and the freedom of movement. This time of year when it's tough to get out on the bike, it's probably the next best thing. An 11am sailing is pretty empty too -- maybe a dozen cars and people. It was a tad chilly, but I spent most of the 30 minute crossing standing in the bow arms sheltered from the wind. The blue skies and sun were a welcome respite from the four days of rain and wind we'd had up to that point.

As it turns out this was the last nice day this week as well. The next day it turned rainy and windy again. I had to go in for dental implant surgery this week where they drilled a hole in my jaw to put in a post for an implant that will go in next year. The little post looked like a screw from some sort of Ikea furniture, and the dentist laughed when I asked him if he had the little alan wrench to tighten it. Since then I've been sitting on the couch with ice packs and watching movies when I'm lucid enough between the pain pills -- and dreaming of sailing away or riding off into the sun.