We’re gonna need a bigger boat…

So this is where we are.  If  you’ve been following along, you know this blog used to be about the restoration and love of my old Tartan 27 “moose”.  Well, after several years of enjoyment and restoration, we realized that we wanted to move aboard a sailboat and actually try living on it. Sadly, “Moose” at only 27 feet was entirely too small for a comfortable existence.  So, we need something bigger. That’s where we are now…

Personally… after owning a couple houses over the last fifteen years, I’m tired of it.  Cutting the grass, fixing hot water heaters, leaky roof’s and crazy neighbors.  I’ve spent thousands upon thousands of dollars, as most of us have, on mortgages, kitchen upgrades, taxes, etc… etc.. and I don’t feel one tad bit more secure than I ever have.  The dream of home-ownership has never been for me.  I’ve tried to buy into it and picture myself with the picket fences, and all that crap but I can’t.  I’ve always been a wanderer, seeker and vagabond.  I grew up in a house where that was highly discouraged.  “Go to college, get a J.O.B and work for the same company for 25 years and retire with a pension” was the company line in my family.  A Marine Corps father and highly intelligent and over achieving siblings is what I was surrounded by. But I was the artistic kid and while I really tried to tow that line, I couldn’t do it.  Still can’t.

I could go on for days but that would be arduous at best.  Long and the short of it is, I found me a girl who is smart, beautiful, adventurous and also ready for a big change.  If this world has taught us anything over the last decade, it’s that nothing is guaranteed.  Nothing. Life is right now.  Happening in front of us everyday.  My Marine father is battling Parkinson’s Disease as we speak.  Melody’s mom is wrestling with Lupus and the tragic effects it has on an otherwise vibrant woman.  We aren’t guaranteed a healthy “old age” and even if we were, when I’m 70 years old, am I going to want to run around the globe and try new things, live uncomfortably if even for a day?  Chances are, I’m not.  I’ve been observing the world around me vigorously… differently after the events of September 11, 2001.  It was a day that changed my life forever.

Where I thought I’d find “security” I found absolute unrest.  I’ve been an artist my whole life… Like it or not, that’s the fact.  Sometimes I don’t much like it to be honest.  I’ve had a “regular” J.O.B for the last 10 years… and it’s nearly killed me.  So, the house is for sale.  I sold the drum kit I’ve had for 25 years.  I’ve given away things near and dear to my heart because I’m sick to death of STUFF.  Shit I own that brings me no comfort and provides no enlightenment what-so-ever.  My books, and a couple of guitars I will keep.  The rest… gone.

I do dream of having a small, eclectic cabin on the lake someday.  One with a library and large stone fireplace.  I’d like to have some chickens, grow my own food and write my crazy poetry and silly songs.  I would but right now, my brain is around breaking away.  It’s about throwing off the wet and musty blanket I’ve covered myself in for the last decade and leaping off the ledge.  This story, The “Story Of Moose” is no longer about a boat.  It’s about us, Melody, Jet (our dog) and myself.  We are “moose” and this is about our “journey”.  The journey that we’ve been on together for the last 6 + years and the journey we’re attempting to under-take as we go forward.