gossamer moment
One moment away………… I saw this boat approaching. As I watched, I wondered about what the fluffy poof of white was on the bow. Ordinarily, sailboats have roller furling on the jib. It almost looked like a white panther ready to pounce off the bow, but that was a ridiculous thought. As we got closer, I saw the sail cloth rumpled to the deck and asked about it. Do you see that sailboat with the wooden mast off to our port?
That’s when the brief lesson started and ended. It is the “Ruark” out for a sail. Tilghman Island is home to the only commercial sailing feet in North America, the Chesapeake Bay skipjacks. Although there were once hundreds of these ships on the Bay, now there are only nine. The skipjacks are moored on Tilghman Island, in Dogwood Harbor, along with many other commercial fishing boats. The skipjack Rebecca T. Ruark, offers sailing tours from April to December. The skipjacks are docked about a 1/2 mile on the left, after crossing the Knapps Narrows bridge. We had passed under the bridge and were passing this vessel at dusk.
The moment I saw her moving toward me, I knew she had tales to tell. I could see it in her form and function. I could hear it in the water as it moved gracefully aside. I could feel it on the wind, as it shifted to push us each closer. Out of that revelry, I scrambled down below for my camera. Shucks, my good digital was out of battery. It came on, but would not snap. Oh, my goodness. The captain made a wide turn to allow me to go to Plan B. I located my smartphone and took two shots. This was the first one. The first one and the best one. Then, the sun had set and the moment was gone. We shifted about and made way to our anchor.
We live in a temporary world that feels permanent. Solid activities of daily living, financial and familial frameworks with work lives, social lives, personal lives…that could dissolve in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.
I see “moments”…as fleeting and changing…. their wispiness on the wind…..almost like gossamer…..defined as:
: a film of cobwebs floating in air in calm clear weather
: something light, delicate, or insubstantial <the gossamer of youth’s dreams
Gossamer is extremely light, delicate, or tenuous– hmmm, water is much stronger!! That’s why we are drawn to it- it is an eternal elixir!!!
When you have an opportunity, don’t get lost in the detail or distracted or deterred by a few glitches ( like one camera does’t work..pick another!)….grab it. Take action. Thinking can wait, moments can’t.
These moments or “real moments” are like gossamer threads, caught on the wind. You see them wafting towards you. If you move your hand, you can touch them. If you sit and watch, they will disappear as quickly as they came.
As fellow “water lovers”– I think we are more fluid, vital, flexible, nourishing, ever changing- but always constant. I think that is the kindred spirit that binds boaters and lovers of the coasts, oceans, marshes, bays, creeks, sounds, rivers and all the associated tributaries that end where life begins.
A working boat sailing since 1886…The Rebecca T Ruark……how perfect!
A neat Washington Post review of the boat trip. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/aboard-the-skipjack-rebecca-t-ruark/2011/09/23/gIQAZuCl0K_gallery.html#photo=1
Take the helm of your life and see how nice it feels!!!