Anyone who knew me from my Queen Anne Elementary PTSA President days is familiar with one of my favorite sayings associated with those two wonderful yet challenging years: "It isn't all unicorns and rainbows". As a start-up school, QAE was a clean slate for parents, students, and teachers to project all of their ideal educational experiences upon. It was easy to imagine an educational utopia where everything was perfect and it all just magically happened because people had an idea about how things should be. When the prospective parents came in for tours and it was my turn to speak as the lead parent representative, I started out each time reminding them that building a new school from ground up was messy, it was hard work, we needed volunteers, compromise, and had to be willing to adjust as we learned. In other words, it wasn't all unicorns and rainbows.
Right now, we are in the messy, hard work, all hand's on deck, compromise, and adjust phase of our adventure. While we have our boat now, we also all have only our vision of perfect weather, destinations with warm clear water, lots of snorkeling and friends of all ages to play with, visitors, etc. But that vision is not yet reality. We are still in North Carolina, probably a week or so away from leaving the dock and heading south. By any cruisers account, getting a sailboat ready for a 2-year cruise in under 6 weeks is fantastic but for Ava and Reed, it feels like a very long time.
These preparation days are easier for Eric and me since we've been on this path before. We remember what is waiting for us in the Bahamas (see the pictures in the post below). Ava and Reed's current view is that we pulled them away from their home and beds, their friends and family, and from all that is familiar. And as many times as we or others tell them how lucky they are to have this adventure and they will look back on these two years and realize how great it was, it doesn't provide much comfort to them now. So while most of the time, things are good and we are working together to shove off and head south, we've also had our fair share of tearful nights of wanting to go home.
So again, it is not YET all unicorns and rainbows. But I also know the first time they see dolphins playing around the bow, anchor in the beautiful creeks in Georgia and see more stars than they've ever seen in a pitch dark sky, spot their first manatee in the warm Florida waters, and snorkel in the indescribably blue waters of the Bahamas, there might just be a few unicorns and rainbows sprinkled in!
Right now, we are in the messy, hard work, all hand's on deck, compromise, and adjust phase of our adventure. While we have our boat now, we also all have only our vision of perfect weather, destinations with warm clear water, lots of snorkeling and friends of all ages to play with, visitors, etc. But that vision is not yet reality. We are still in North Carolina, probably a week or so away from leaving the dock and heading south. By any cruisers account, getting a sailboat ready for a 2-year cruise in under 6 weeks is fantastic but for Ava and Reed, it feels like a very long time.
These preparation days are easier for Eric and me since we've been on this path before. We remember what is waiting for us in the Bahamas (see the pictures in the post below). Ava and Reed's current view is that we pulled them away from their home and beds, their friends and family, and from all that is familiar. And as many times as we or others tell them how lucky they are to have this adventure and they will look back on these two years and realize how great it was, it doesn't provide much comfort to them now. So while most of the time, things are good and we are working together to shove off and head south, we've also had our fair share of tearful nights of wanting to go home.
So again, it is not YET all unicorns and rainbows. But I also know the first time they see dolphins playing around the bow, anchor in the beautiful creeks in Georgia and see more stars than they've ever seen in a pitch dark sky, spot their first manatee in the warm Florida waters, and snorkel in the indescribably blue waters of the Bahamas, there might just be a few unicorns and rainbows sprinkled in!