Cold and Happy

We've been back in Virginia for almost three weeks now. It's taken that long to be able to take a moment and put some thoughts down about everything.

We flew into Dulles and were greeted by 30 degree weather, a talkative cabby and a warm bed at Amanda's sister and husband's house in Arlington. Waking up the next morning, it all became very real. The boat was sold, our lives were changed, our future...a tad uncertain. Looking at the pile of stuff (two tough-bins, four suitcases and a couple of surfboards) in their front room that comprised 80 percent of our worldly possessions made me feel a little homeless, but at the same time I felt loved and taken care of. Living in California was wonderful. We met folks who constantly overwhelm me with their friendship and visited places that made me say "wow" at least once a week, but spending time with our families once or twice a year had taken a toll. We missed these people. We miss our California people, too.

We spent the first two weeks bopping from one family to the other. A few days in Arlington, a weekend at Brad and Leah's cabin in WV then a few days at my parent's new house in Harrisonburg before heading to Amanda's mom's house near Harper's Ferry. Everyone has offered us a place to stay, anytime, for however long. With my usual rapidity, we'd bought a car, phones, I'd gotten a haircut and found a job on the Spirit of Washington, a dinner boat in D.C. Amanda is hot on the trail of her coffee career and I'm waiting to hear from Univ. of North Carolina in Wilmington. We've been busy playing with our adorable niece and our rascally nephew, who at this time is a highly contagious pink-eyed rascal. So for the meantime, this is home, as in our families' homes.

There's tons of things that I miss about cruising already, and I'm sure there will be more as time moves on. We learned a lot about ourselves and the world. We learned more about how to take care of and love each other, how to navigate the mercado municipal, how to live on fresh fish tacos and beans. We learned how much we love sailing and travelling. We learned that there is a huge world out there to explore, and that we have a lifetime to do it in.