…back to the sea and the sun.”  The song, Turn Around and Run, by Kelly McGuire [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H1WPZ3Emug], is a Trop-rock favorite of ours.  Back in the late 80’s, he and Captain Chameleon became friends while living at the same marina in Kemah, Texas. A sailor and dreamer, his music strikes a chord with us because it is entertaining, inspiring, and familiar.  Turn Around and Run is about going on vacation to a tropical paradise, the inevitable end of vacation, and then a last minute choice to skip the flight back to Rat Race Central; turn around and run back to the sea and the sun.

The Captain and I left San Diego Harbor last October (October 28, 2013) and after many highs and hardly a noticeable low (breaking my ankle January 2, 2014), our time of fun and folly of cruising aboard Seamore Pacific comes to a seasonal close this week.  This next Monday I return to work.  It is what I refer to as collecting sand dollars.  Get it?  Our last week of 24/7 companionship, simple living, and being aboard Seamore Pacific couldn’t be better spent than being at Marina San Carlos.  We arrived last Friday to begin the long, arduous process of hauling our boat out of the water and putting her “to bed” in Marina Seca (dry dock).  It is a pretty amazing site to behold, hundreds of white sailboat masts rising from a field, a couple of miles from the ocean.  Hundreds of cruisers each year go through the same routine; floated onto a hydraulic trailer at high tide, their boat is pulled out of the water and up the hill to dry dock.  It’s quite impressive and so far, we have never heard anything but raves about the whole process.  Safe and secure, she will be waiting our return for more Sea of Cortez cruising.   That is, once we have collected enough sand dollars to spring her bail.  Get it?

Just to jar the memory, we would have preferred putting Seamore Pacific to bed back in late January.  But with my injured ankle, I was not capable of dismantling her canvas, plugging her thru-hulls, running lubricants through her systems, stowing the outboards, stowing the inflatable dinghy, and shrouding her in tarps while she is perched 12 feet off the ground.  Turning limes into margaritas, we instead let my ankle heal by changing up our plans and traveling to Missouri to visit family.  After several large- square meals of delicious country cooking and doing little but sit and visit, my ankle was given the chance to heal.  I’m oh, so happy, so very happy to report that I went for my first run today.  Literally, I turned around and ran…back to the sea and the sun.

To keep with the theme of turning around, running, the sea, and the sun, Captain Chameleon just reminded me of the two black kittens that I happened onto this morning.  Hunkered under a car, one of the little cutie pies, turned around and ran, just as I came up to feed him some left over roasted chicken.

Besides our love for the sea and the sun, the other reason we are reluctant to return to Rat Race Central, is that we have been able to shelter ourselves from news.  We both disdain superficial drama.  Seeing last week’s headline of “Kim Kardashian’s Has Buttocks Implants” had me running to the closest latrine to upchuck.  Fortunately, I don’t have to do that.  Choosing to not follow 99% of mainstream news, we are instead graced with real-life celebrities, like Jeanne Socrates [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2362101/Jeanne-Socrates-70-oldest-woman-sail-solo-round-world-non-stop.html].   At 70 years old, she is the oldest female to solo-circumnavigated, non-stop.  Last night, she quietly sailed into Marina San Carlos and is berthed next to Seamore Pacific.  This afternoon, eagerly excited for my inaugural run, I stopped off at her boat to lend a warm handshake and tell her how much I admire her accomplishments.  Genuine and real, she brushed off the praise, and rerouted us back to being simply neighbors.  Can you imagine Kim Kardashian doing the same?  She actually might, but her publicist probably wouldn’t.  Having approximately 1400 nautical miles under my belt (With Captain Chameleon to lean on), Jeanne’s accomplishment has my complete and profound respect.

That wraps up this post, except for one last important point; my work.  I am blessed to have the life that I have and a job that I truly enjoy.  When I’m not sailing, I’m a nurse.  Collecting sand dollars is both an honor and a privilege.  Satisfaction has less to do with how many sand dollars I collect and more about patients and their families having a caring outcome (high-quality care).