buckle-up

Thunderous explosions awoke us early in the morning as a fast-moving storm descended on us. Shortly after the first clap of thunder, alarms started blaring on our phones. A tornado was imminent in our area so I quickly arose, grabbed my wallet, keys, watch and headed to my phone. And no, I don’t sleep with my phone handily within reach in our bedroom. As I looked outside at the predawn gloom, the skies looked wicked and it was hard to ignore that perhaps something terrible would unfold right in front of our eyes. It lasted the better part of an hour. Distant rumblings continue as the storm headed further east. Fortunately, the rains have begun to ease and for Margo and me, that’s quite a relief. Hard to believe that after breaking ground October 21, with not quite four months behind us, our new Florida home is having landscaping done – our home is now locked awaiting appliances. Hopefully, this storms appearance doesn’t play havoc with our builders’ schedule. Our final walk through i...

With my back to our suite and my eyes locked on far away sights, it was once again time to go down to the sea in ship s. The title of a movie made ages ago, but I have to admit my thoughts were more about the lines from the poem by John Masefield: “ I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and the sky. ” What has become an all too familiar tradition of Margo and I, as the days pass by and the times together over Thanksgiving and Christmas are but a distant memory, we seem to be always drawn to the ocean and to a cruise out on its waters. As you read this post, we are anchored within the coral reefs surrounding Belize, having pulled into Colon, Limon and Roatan. As for the photo above, you may come across it in other posts and commentaries but it does capture the essence of why we sail. Our means of transportation across the Caribbean this time has been the Viking Mars. A formula ocean going Viking vessel following exactly the same lines as other Viking Ocean going ships, it b...