PREPARING FOR LIFE ON DRY LAND

APRIL 23, 2015
We have been in key West for more than a week waiting on weather so we can continue our journey north.  Our days are filled with preparing It's Perfect for storage in Green Cove Springs, Fla.  She will be safely on the ground, stored there for the rest of the year.  We are anxious to spend time with family and friend in New Mexico and Texas.  Being so far away from their lives is one of the hardest things of living this life. 

RIGHT BY IT'S PERFECT
 
While here in Key West we are very slowly beginning to accustom ourselves to the pace of our new life back in the United States.  This is still the land of plenty.  Plenty of everything, the stores are brimming with any and everything anyone could desire, the streets are full of vehicles, the sidewalks full of people, the air full of noise.  There is the hum of life from the time the sun comes up until it sinks slowly across the island and the stars appear overhead.

Cruise ships arrive daily to disgorge thousands of happy smiling people looking to this port of call for the great adventure they have paid for.  They wander the streets, eat in the restaurants, buy treasures in the shops, go jet skiing, try snorkeling or diving, go fishing, sailing or para-sailing across the harbor.  Then suddenly just hours later their adventure is over and they return to the ship with all the others.  They are laden with T-shirts, hats, trinkets and treasures.  You would think their blazing sunburn would be souvenir enough to remind them of the thrill of their unforgettable time ashore.  Does this sound like an adventure of a lifetime?

It's Perfect is bobbing happily on it's mooring in Garrison Bight along with about 40 other boats.  Since arriving last week I am beginning to slowly understand how much has changed.  Not with the world around us, but with ourselves.  I can't put into words how fortunate I feel to have been able to make this 3 year journey into the unknown or how sobering it is to have it come to an end.  We are not the same people who left the dock in Kemah so long ago.  I would like to think we are more caring and kinder, with a better understanding of the people and the world around us.  We have met truly amazing people, rich, poor, young and old.  The people in the countries we have visited live their lives much like all the people of the world, working, caring for their families and being part of a community.  Good, happy people getting through life the best they know how with far fewer opportunities than life inn America has to offer.

We will spend the next few months in the pecan orchard's of New Mexico, slowly learning to deal with real life as everyone on dry land knows it.  Our friends Glenn & Sherrie will be taking an extended vacation and have asked us to keep an eye on their pecan grove while they are gone.  We are looking forward to long days and blazing sunsets that light up the mountains in yellow, orange, pink and finally purple. After darkness falls the night sky lights up with a blanket of stars twinkling above.  While there a new plan for our next adventure will take shape.  Who knows where life will lead us.
 

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