In The World but OUT of the Stream

The view from our world...

Once again it's been a long time since I've published anything. In fact, it's been a long time since I've actually  sat down for more than 20 minutes other than dinner time. Dinner time at our home aka -  the floating palace, is a special time where we come together and share what went on in our lives while we were apart. Last week, I noticed I was going through some sort of withdrawal from my loves! I missed spending time with them and felt that school and work were taking there toll on us.

Having been separated from North America for the past 10 months I see not much has changed. I notice it in my customers' actions. They come into The Bookstore in a rush practically shoving their credit card in my hand or rushing their children to "hurry up and select a book" because they are double parked. It pains me to see. Recently, a product came in called, "Today I..." It's a game of conversation starters for families so that they can get a dialogue going about their day. When I saw this my gut reaction was, "Really?" I am so thankful our family doesn't need a game to tell us how to talk to each other. In fact, I heard someone say they were trying to have at least one family meal together each week and I thought, "Wow, is that enough?" What could be so important that people don't have enough time to sit down each night and have dinner?

Cruising/ Living on board has afforded us tons of quality time, time to cook together, talk about our days events and just bond. GR and I both agree that as children our families spent every night eating dinner together until we moved away from home. Even with all the after school sports and activities our families felt compelled to create an environment where talking, sharing and spending meal time together was imperative. It's not about the food it's about the gathering. Studies show that kids from families that spend meal time together are less likely to smoke, drink underage, swear, consider suicide and are more likely to have table manners, use better vocabulary and do well in school.

Now, we are living on the boat but we are citizens in the "real" world. I hold onto the sanctuary that we have created aboard Felicity. As we dinghy out to the boat I slowly feel the chains of land life lift off my shoulders. As we approach the stern of the boat, I feel the excitement and relief that comes with any homecoming. We throw all our backpacks and bags down and congregate in the galley. We make dinner, do home work and share the load of daily stresses.Our little "island" in the Bay offers the most incredible view of the "land of plenty" with out all the taxes, anchors and commitments. If we really wanted to we could throw off the lines and take off to any other place but here! We are secluded and separate in more ways than one. In that way, I love being a cruiser/live aboard in the world but out of the stream.

In what ways do you stay connected with your family?

With Peace & Love for You Today.