For me, the one funny thing of the Covid pandemic has been those clips on youtube of people frantically buying toilet paper like if the world was about to end, and the only thing you would need before dying is having an extra clean butt. Then one day, while trying to load 3 massive Costco packs of toilet paper on top of 10 gallons of laundry soap, I realized people were looking at me funny. It then dawned on me: I had become one of them…
-Do you want another coffee Sam?
-Yeah… not so much in the mood to start over the thru-holes…
-I know honey. It doesn’t drip much, but that is the thing to do.
-I wanna splice lines in the cockpit Cass, I am very discouraged.
-Every day brings surprises on Pablo, maybe it will be a good day!
-Yeah…. Says Sam not so enthusiastically.
Kids arrived at the boat. They look at their bedroom, their toys…their new home.
-Wooooooowwwwww, says Salty.
-Woooooooowwwwoooowwww, , says Matey.
-Daddy, what is this orange thing in the middle of the living room?
-It’s a fridge Salty.
No more cds in the house (we sold them all!), we’re listening to the radio in the car that morning. It’s commute time from home to the daycare:
-Who sings that song Mommy? asks Salty.
-Her name is Pink, pumpkin.
I see her coming… She will say she loves the song because her name is Pink.
Routine visit at the dentist before Sam leaves to go work on the boat for 2 months. He needs to prepare it before the rest of us arrives for good. It’s coming very fast.
-Man…these gums doesn’t look good, the dentist says to Sam.
-That bad?
For the last time before we leave, we are with Sophie, our doctor guru. She is teaching us how to make stitches. Honestly : I hope if won’t need some. But if we need some, and cannot reach medical assistance, better safe than sorry.
We bought a pork leg to practice.
-So here, you turn the thread around the plyers and you pull to make the knot.
-What do you mean by ” They changed their mind!” Sam?
-Why, exactly that. They changed their mind.
My mother adds (after all, we crash at her place since we sold the house) :
-Yes, they changed their mind. But does it mean they accept your offer?
Over the years, Sam started really enjoying wood working. Putting hours to bring back to life a complete collection of old planes that he used afterward, collecting special tools, saws, and buying some exotic wood.
Sam looks at his amazing band saw being loaded inside the pickup of its new owner.
Very early that morning, we take the plane for a second time; heading to Georgia where a boat that Sam found is waiting for us.
– I am just SO excited !!! I say to Sam.
– I know! The boat is just perfect: our own bedroom with a bed not in the shape of a triangle, separate beds for the kids, two bathrooms, wind generator, solar panels, kitchen like we wanted, central cockpit that keeps us dry and the kids safe…
– With white cream cushions on top! Brand new from 2014!!!
– Arrghhh…you and your cushions.
Past February 2018.
-Look Salty, this is a photo of the man who’s helping us to find a boat.
She doesn’t look. Not sure why I thought it could interest her…
-He helps to find a boat?
-Yes! We’re going to go back to see him and visit a boat with him soon.
-But I don’t know him.
-No you don’t. His name is George. But look this time, here, that’s a photo of him on his business card.
Salty looks, grins and almost screams:
-This is NOT George mommy!!!
She goes in the living room, visibly upset.
I wait and think about when we met George back in Florida. He said:
“I will give you such a good service finding your boat, that when you’ll come back of your trip, you will call me.”
Salty comes back and brings a plush at 1 inch from my nose and says angrily:
-THIS is GEORGE, mommy!!!
We flew to to meet him again and visited no less than 18 boats in 1 week through the ENTIRE Florida.
There is not much resemblance between George the Pig and George the broker. But I must admit that I cannot dissociate the two anymore!
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Featured image: Sam and Cass driving a mini cooper from Turo through Florida, hopeful to find THE boat…
