My husband, the ace reporter. The boat arrived today. Note that it is not called the Mary B. It is, in fact, the Mary M. Sorry, Mary Beth. Good news, Mary Margaret!
That was the high point of the day, which was otherwise hot, sweaty and dehydrating. It took seven hours to get the boat unloaded, the motor mounted and the mast raised, after which Alan motored it into its new slip at the park and we called it a day. It was mostly memorable for these guys, which assaulted us in clouds. OK, so it’s wrong to accuse an insect that neither stings nor bites of being assaultive, but you have no idea how the millions of mayflies — called “fish flies” locally — coat this town in June. This is a light dusting. Under street lights, there are places where they cover the grass. Like snow. (You want to know more? You know you do.)
They flew around our heads, in our mouths, down our shirts. At one point, I noticed Alan was sweating so hard he had actually drowned two of them on his neck.
But our boat floats. It needs its boom and sails, its belowdecks straightened, its cooler filled with ice-cold Labatt’s blue and a bottle or two of nice white wine, perhaps champagne for its maiden voyage under sail. Now there will be some pictures.
Those mayflies? Alan informs me they come from the genus ephemera. They exist to make fish and fishermen happy, and to be beautiful. So they do.
No bloggage today. I was outside, getting solar radiation instead of the kind that leaks from my laptop.
Carmella said on June 28, 2005 at 8:23 am
BEAUTIFUL boat!! Have fun with that! Off subject….that was quite a party at Nate and Brenda’s last night!! (6FU)
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MichaelG said on June 28, 2005 at 8:56 am
Beautiful boat. I know you two will enjoy yourselves. Duck when you come about.
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Jeffrey said on June 28, 2005 at 9:17 am
Sharp! I love those colors together — very Newport!!
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Nance said on June 28, 2005 at 9:22 am
Yes, I like the colors, too. In fact, I think another candidate for a jazz-based name has emerged: Kind of Blue.
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danno said on June 28, 2005 at 10:51 am
Hot boat! Call it ‘The Holy Grail’, but keep the original name Mary M.(Magdelene) and let them figure it out!!! LOL!!
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mary said on June 28, 2005 at 11:49 am
I’m okay with it being the Mary M. Lovely boat.
I didn’t watch 6fu last night because BBC America is showing Prime Suspect at the same time. From the teaser on the HBO guide, it sounds like it was an eventful episode.
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Joe said on June 28, 2005 at 12:26 pm
Man that rig looks like something some mean old rich republican would own, Have you all seen the light and come over to the dark side? Seriously, it looks like a lot of fun, I hope your family has many enjoyable hours on board and I will be looking forward to seeing some great pictures.
I could trade you a ride in my airplane for a spin on the boat.
have fun.
Joe,
Down here in Auburn IN
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Pat said on June 28, 2005 at 6:37 pm
Mayflies do take getting used to. It is something I have only seen in the Great Lakes, and words cannot adequately describe the experience. I remember walking out of our place at Lake Erie and seeing mayflies on every lamp post, home, walkway. It wigs one out. The sheer number of them is overwhelming.
The only advice I can offer is…walk with a closed mouth. :}
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brian stouder said on June 28, 2005 at 7:43 pm
Snappy vessel!
Speaking of your ace reporter spouse – I read a funny comment today and thought of y’all. The very fine writer Shelby Foote passed away last night, and in the article about him on msnbc the following bit appeared –
>>He tried journalism again after World War II, signing on briefly with The Associated Press in its New York bureau.
�I think journalism is a good experience, having to turn in copy against deadline and everything else, but I don�t think one should stay in it too long if what he wants to be is a serious writer,� Foote said in a 1990 interview.
>>Early in his career, Foote took up the habit of writing by hand with an old-fashioned dipped pen, and he continued that practice throughout his life.
So NN has successfully transitioined out of day-to-day journalism….and now all she needs is a dippy pen (and 20 years!) and we’ll have her magnum opus!
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Nance said on June 28, 2005 at 8:06 pm
Ha. Hardly. My handwriting has so atrophied that I now write sympathy notes on the computer. I’ve found it’s a great goad to make them memorable, so people don’t notice how tacky they are. And a quill pen? Good lord, how…southern.
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Connie said on June 28, 2005 at 8:10 pm
I have always found the mayfly hatch to be eerie. At our cottage the windows will be covered with them for days. And the fishing is useless for a week or two, the fish have all the mayflies they can eat.
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ashley said on June 28, 2005 at 8:45 pm
How Southern?
You say that like it’s a bad thing.
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MarkH said on June 28, 2005 at 9:17 pm
I’ll add my compliments on the boat. Alan has a good eye.
It reminds me that way too many years ago (gulp!) this summer , I learned to sail on the Chesapeake Bay. A great old wooden sloop she was, too; 32 feet, built in Holland in 1955 and called “Temptress”. I wonder how many other boats carried that name. My brother-in-law, who owned the boat, thinks the builder was trying to start a new class of sloop with the name, but it never caught on, so he just put it on the stern and left it. An absolutely glorious time: out of college for the summer, 21 and single, not a care in the world (sigh).
Speaking of names, Nance, I think you’re onto it with the Miles Davis reference; it has my vote.
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basset said on June 28, 2005 at 11:54 pm
You oughta just wear sleeveless T-shirts, dirty hair and a glassy-eyed expression, stock it up with cheap light beer and call it “Free Bird.”
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