Monday, August 20, 2012

something about obituaries...

The Beatles knew that money "Can't buy me love" but, just maybe, you can buy the Republican vice presidential nomination if you happen to have a spare 100 million floating around, on how to not die in the woods, and Dudley Dix is at one with the future...

I'm of an age when reading obituaries is something I actually go out of my way to avoid because the reality of the fact that we all shed our mortal coil too soon is not something I like to be reminded of on a daily basis.

It's even worse when, like today, you wake up to find three people you really admire are no longer with the living...

Shit, make that four...

Kinda puts stuff into perspective.

As it happens, one of the reasons we dropped out of the "normal" life we had going and went cruising had a lot to do with the obituaries in the SSCA newsletters. We had noticed that quite a few folks had waited till they had enough money, had the perfect boat, had waited till all of their kids were settled, and had all of the other ducks in a perfect row... Then we'd read about them having a heart attack or some such a month or two into their perfectly planned cruise.

I didn't want to be that guy...

So, somewhat short of my 40th birthday in 1992 with no real plan, the not-perfect boat and a lot less money than most folks would find prudent, we left good jobs behind and sailed off towards something we were eager to find.

In the years since, we've done a lot of stuff... Had some good times, had some bad times. We still have no real plan, an imperfect boat, and a lot less money than most would deem comfortable. That said, when you think about it, not so bad a life at all.

Listening to Strangers in Paradise

So it goes...