The First Day of Christmas

Travis:

We are in the last few days before Christmas, and the city is nearly impassable due to all of the people madly rushing to another store to get another gift for another person on their list. This has got me thinking about the true meaning of the season. So I have been taking it easy today, trying to avoid any place that sells anything, and thinking about the old story I learned as a small boy in Sunday School. We all know it. A virgin is with child, there is no room at the inn, the King of Kings born in a lowly stable below a shining star in the East. So, what does this have to do with shopping? It has set me on a day long Google search that has left me tired and confused. I feel like I have to share.

First I found out that Jesus was not the only son of God that was born of a virgin on Dec. 25. Around 3000BC Horus was born of the virgin, Isis, below a star in the East, and was visited by 3 kings. He later had 12 disciples, was baptized at age 30, walked on water, was crucified and raised from the dead three days later. But this is Christmas, not Easter so I will try to stay with the point. Next was Attis of Greece born Dec 25 around 1200 BC of a virgin, again crucified and raised from the dead three days later. Lord Krishna was born in northern India around 900 BC. His mother was also a virgin, he was born under an eastern star and resurrected. Dyonysus, also was born of a virgin on Dec 25 around 500 BC. He was also resurrected. There was also a persian god named Mithra who was born Dec 25 around 1200 BC who had 12 disciples, and was dead for three days before resurrecting.

This got my head spinning a bit so I dug a bit further. What is up with Dec 25? It seems to be astrological. As we all know, this time of year the sun is sinking to our south, and the days are painfully short. If we were to observe carefully, we would notice the sun would appear to remain stationary for three days around the winter solstice. Dec 22, 23 and 24 the sun is at its lowest point, and on the 25th it begins to visibly rise. To the ancients this signified the new birth or the raising from the dead. The star in the east is Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. On Dec 24 it aligns with the three stars of the constellation Orion's belt. These three stars have been known since the Egyptians as the three Kings. If you were to draw a line through the four stars as they align on the 24th the line would intersect perfectly with the place of the rising of the sun the morning of the 25th, thus pointing to the birthplace of God's Sun, or son as we have come to spell it. This story is ancient and repetitious because of the constant fascination with astrology throughout the ages. The lord Jesus ushered us into the age of Pisces and promised to be with us until the end of the age (Matt 28:20). At that time, around 2050, will begin the new age of Aquarius. Perhaps then there will be created a new holiday to celebrate the start of this new age.

So why all of the presents, and tree decorating and lights? This began as a roman Pagan holiday called Saturnalia, which was celebrated every year from Dec 17-25. This was a week of lawlessness and outrageous behavior, that included rape and murder. Not unlike what happens in department stores the week before Christmas. They decorated themselves and gave each other gifts of cakes shaped like people. (much like Gingerbread men) The early church wanted an end to all of this paganism so they decided to let people think they could still celebrate the same way if they converted to Christianity. Likewise the Christmas tree is a leftover from pagan worship of the Asheira cult. This group worshipped trees in the forest and often brought them into their homes and decorated them. They were converted by the church and their tradition lives on to this day.

The ancient season of Yule was a time of both reflection and celebration, a time to connect in a relational way with one's own inner wisdom and with the people that surrounded them. Many different cultures from the Nordic Vikings to the Celtic Druids, Egyptians to the Hopi ritualized this sacred time to promote spiritual unity and attunement. It was believed that the veil between this world and the next was thin at this time, and the ancestors were invited to partake in the celebrations. The Nordics believed this was the time that Thor would ride his chariot in the night skies, pulled by two Reindeer, named Donner and Blitzen. (History of yule taken from www.bellaonline.com)

I could go on, but I won't bore you any further. I just thought it would be fun for us all to be reminded of the spirit of this season. So, I am going to look at this Christmas in a new way. It is a time to reflect on the year that has passed, share good cheer and gifts with the people I love the most, but never see enough, and look foreword to the coming year as a gift of new life, with limitless possibilities. Maybe this is how I should have been looking at it all along. Anyway, have a great holiday season! Pour yourself an extra stout glass of eggnog from me. I'll be keeping mine virgin, just like Isis, the mother of Horus.

P.S. This is not meant to discredit anyones religious beliefs of spiritual truths in any way. If anything is should cement the realization of the amazing power of the one who sustains us all, to unify people throughout the ages and around the world to an unshakable truth of hope and salvation. Thanks for reading.

Let there be Lights

Tara during our first winter aboard 2009

Our Christmas light display aboard Tara has waned in enthusiasm over the last three years. We started out with gusto, hanging bright icicle lights and colorful rail lights the first year, followed by a weak display of a single strand of colorful lights on the back deck last year, to zero effort this year. Why? Although we (I more then Travis) love Christmas lights, both of us equally despise taking them down. So to get my fill of beautiful lights on the water, I went exploring and photographing other peoples light displays. Lazy? Perhaps. I, however, choose to think of it as working smarter, not harder, a mantra I will be applying when considering future projects.

Flashback

Its getting to be winter around here, and I'm back below in our berth editing videos from the summer. Back in August we shoved Billy into his basket, threw him in the car and took off for some wilderness camping in neighboring West Virginia. If anyone is unfamiliar with US camping regulations heres the nitty. Camping is free in any of the National Forests. Find a site and you can stay there for up to 14 days. State Parks and National Parks all  charge fees for camping, in addition to entrance fees.



 Dog On Boat on Vimeo.

Happy Bidding!

We're so excited! Finally in honor of slimming down our belongings, our ebay store is up. Whoooo hoooo! Travis has been working very hard to make it all come together, and now it is done! I'm super stoked to be selling my bumper stickers there, and some other art stuff. There is so much more that we are excited about posting, but for now, you will see by the variety of categories, there's something for every boater, hippy, mystic, and art fan out there!

Me Voy's new hood

Giddy with success as we take Me Voy to her new marina. It feels momentous, coz it signals that the hard core restoration work is over! No more tornado like clouds of dust  and 5 gal buckets of epoxy for this girl. At least we hope! The buzz around the marina is that we are moving, but just to put those rumors to bed, we are staying put aboard Tara for the winter, and will move aboard Me Voy in the Spring. For now there is still upholstery to finish and other fun things like cushions and curtains to make.

Chopper enjoyed the new cockpit very much, as he was able to smell and therefore long after the yummies that are that much closer. For the most part though, he wasn't much impressed as we motored for about an hour to our new destination. We, however, were giddy, feeling again like we have just stolen someone else's very nice yacht. The only thing that tempers that feeling, bringing it down to reality, is the fact that both of us have touched every inch of that boat, sometimes in very uncomfortable positions.

We docked like pros, pulling into the slip with ease and confidence. It may have had something to do with the fact that the water looked liked this, you know almost dead calm. But whatever, it was still a classy entrance. Did you notice the spiffy main sail cover? Yup that old Singer and I went for another round of dancing and that old girl hung in there and then some, until we both came out saying did we just do that? Anyway its not completely finished, needs some different straps at the head and some zipper ends, but that will get fine tuned over the winter. But that's in the future, for now we are enjoying the next step of our ever evolving plan.

Table/Bed

This is what is staring at me right now. Chopper. He's always reminding me of the importance of play time. We've been listening, trying to keep a balance between work and play, but there has been much to do. We were tossing around the idea of a table for the salon in Me Voy. To have one or not to have one. We decided that it would be great to have one, even if it did cut into the yoga space on the floor. We also thought it would be fun if it was somewhat funky and interesting, tying the colors of the interior together like a good rug. So this is what we came up with...

 The center is a yellow submarine puzzle, that we worked on last winter. Its epoxied onto mahogany with some stenciling around it, and varnished.  It was the first puzzle we ever did together, and it may be last.  I knew Travis was a freak but until that morning, when I saw him hunched over the half finished puzzle, eyes spinning, hands shaking as he compulsively searched for a piece of the Blue Meanie, I never realized the full scope of his madness. "It can't just sit here, we must finish it" was his mantra, while I said "Lets just work on it little by little". Needless to say it was Travis who finished the puzzle in about 34 hours and collapsed from exhaustion.

The table also converts to make a bed, by removing the locked in legs and substituting them with shorter pieces. The table top lays in small ledgers around the satee and has a cushion that makes the entire satee into a nice big bed. We rarely sleep there, but it has happened, and Chopper for one loves it coz he can easily jump and hog the bed. He has BTW been staring at me the entire time it took me to write this blog and just now went to stare at Travis. However I feel another pair of eyes digging into my back and turn around to see this ...

... I am one lucky person

we've been busy

 We've been four and a half years in the making of this dream called Me Voy. Neither of us has ever stuck with a project this long! We're at the tail end of our work and are down to making some fun stuff.  Here is a cockpit table Travis made over the last couple of weeks. Just for shock value the last two pics are of us in the  cockpit, when it was called the "hellpit". Back then it was nothing more then a big hole at the stern of the boat covered by, you guessed it, a tarp. So you see things are really possible if you work hard, persevere, keep the big picture in mind, and smoke a little pot every now and then.

in the beginning there was only the hellpit

Travis in the hellpit doing some hell work

B&S Boat Trick #1

One thing you just can't get on a boat, or at least on most boats is a long hot shower. Ironically during the summer, when our water hose is bypassing the water tanks, and laying on the deck absorbing the sun's heat, this is not an issue, but who wants long hot showers in the summer? In the winter, however, our shower practice looks something like this: turn on water til warm, get all necessary parts wet, turn off water, lather all necessary parts, turn on water and rinse til water begins to get cool. This takes all of about seven minutes. But somehow, thru some sheer luck I have stumbled upon the remedy for this, and I am calling it my Beer and Skittles Boat Trick #1. Ready? The answer lies in turning down the water pressure! If I seem a little excited about this its coz I am! With the water pressure turned down to an acceptable stream,  I am taken back to the steamy showers of land life, where I have time to lather, rinse and stand and stand under that lovely stream and relax. Ahhhh.

 Does anyone out there have any boat tricks they discovered? Do tell.

How do you remember?

Do you like the holidays? Are you one who dreams of Halloween decorations, Thanksgiving plumage and Christmas lights in September? Do you dream up creative costumes in June and wear Santa Hats as soon as they appear on store shelves?  If so, that's great, really is, we need people like you, I'm sure of it. It's just that I never got it. I never understood the holidays, and the equations I was observing were so unsatisfactory to me :
ghosts+candy = Halloween,
turkey+ family+ gratitude = Thanksgiving
Jesus+presents= Christmas
Champagne+high heels=New Year
bunny+ eggs+basket=Easter
 etc.

I'm sure this is some lack in me that doesn't allow the magic of all these Holidays to penetrate, but, so it is. Until now.

This year, having dome some searching and re-discoviering the power of ritual, I wanted in on the magic.  After all, that is what these Holy Days are, celebrations honoring our mystical humanity expressed in ritual magic. How did I not see this before?

So, with the Holidaze coming, I set out to reclaim the ancient meanings behind these popularized Holidays. It was almost Halloween and that felt like a good place to start.

Halloween or Samhain  as it was known in the Gaelic tradition, celebrated the end of summer and the beginning of the dark season. Because darkness is often associated with death, it was also called the Day of the Dead, and was known as the  night when the veil between the worlds (light/dark, life/death/ real/imaginary) was very thin. Candles were lit in the night to guide the passing spirits, and turnips or pumpkins were carved to scare the more unsavory characters.

In ancient Egypt the time was celebrated as the Festival of Isia, and celebrated  the return of the God Osiris who was magically resurrected from the dead by his wife Isis, becoming the King of the Dead.

The Greeks celebrated a festival called Thesmophoria,  which related to the myth of Persephony, who was kidnapped by Hades and taken to the underworld, becoming the Goddess of Death.

In Mexico the day is celebrated as Dia de los Muertos (Day of the dead) and the Hindu tradition celebrates Divali or a festival of related to Rebirth or New Year.

In the early Christian church the day was known as All Souls Day, and honored those who have passed.

 So what does it all mean?  How to put it all together and honor that which desires to be remembered at this time? The answer, I think, lies in the symbolic language of ritual. The symbolism of Halloween, Death, Rebirth, Change, Harvest, Spirit Connection/Communication can all translate into meaningful actions (ritual) that can help us to reconnect ourselves to that part of us which desires ritual in the first place. Tricky? Not really. I found that keeping in mind the symbolism of Halloween, allowed me to deeply appreciate actions such as lighting a candle or carving an owl in a pumpkin (in honor of inner sight).  Even though I passed on the Ouija board, grave cleaning, and costumes,  I feel my Halloween experience to have been richer then ever before. Next on the horizon... Thanksgiving, or maybe even Veterans Day?

Glancing at the last post you'll have noticed that we have been working like mad. Me- to fund this venture of ours and Travis to knock out some of those items of the previously posted list. And you know what, we are getting close! In the last few weeks, new water tanks have been installed on TARA, Me Voy's V berth and state room have been refinished, TARA's roof has been painted, bright work on both boats has been done and a few other projects that are not yet finished are well on their way to completion. What does this all mean? It means that we are seriously getting ready to transition from our 55' Chris Craft to our 46' yacht . When? Everyone wants to when, everyone, including us.

For me, a hurdle to being ready to move onto Me Voy, is my attachment to TARA. She is such a wonderful boat, huge in comparison to the sailboat and filled with luxuries like a washing machine and dishwasher.  I have begun mentally saying goodbye to all these things and daydreaming about life aboard Me Voy. In my experience everything begins with a dream and although TARA is not on the market yet  and saying a real goodbye to her will be very hard, visualizing life aboard Me Voy has made me ready to scale down, simplify further, get down to one boat and focus on other work.  And so, in honor of small space living, I thought the above video might put to rest  worries some people (my parents)  have about living in tight quarters.