T&T: A bump in the roa

[Ken Tischler]

Great post, Randy! Wanderer is probably one of my all time favorite books. I
actually wrote that quote down when I read the book and have it stuck to the
refrigerator so I see it everyday.

We are facing the same issue with my father, and we are having to put our
cruising plans on indefinite hold. We were so close, too... this time next
year we were going to head out and see how many years we could get on the
boat before something like this pulled us back home.

Perhaps we all get back to cruising before too long and may cross paths.

Ken Tischler
Microship
DeFever 49PH



On Wed, Apr 23, 2008 at 7:49 AM, Randy Pickelmann <rwp_48 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Well, it finally happened.
>
> When Cindy & I left to go cruising two years ago we knew that since I had
> two
> elderly parents, it was likely that we would one day be called back home.
>  We
> didn't want to live our lives with regret so we ran away from home.  My
> dad
> passed away unexpectedly on Christmas Day.  After four months, it has
> become
> obvious that Mom needs our help on a daily basis.  So after wintering
> Morning
> Star in the Keys and not using her, we are going down this weekend and
> bringing her back home to Clearwater.
>
> While this certainly puts our cruising plans on indefinite hold, we have
> every
> intention of picking up again some day.  In the meantime Morning Star will
> be
> used on the weekends and on occasional vacation cruises.
>
> I guess the real message in all this is that if you plan to go cruising,
> leave
> now.  Go today, not tomorrow.  The hardest part is untying the dock lines.
>  If
> you wait a few more years for the stock market to come back...your Social
> Security to kick in...your retirement to vest at a better rate...or to
> finish
> a few more projects to make the boat perfect, you might be waiting too
> long.
> Health issues for one spouse or the other can potentially put your dreams
> back
> on the shelf in a heartbeat.  Nike said in their commercials, "Just Do
> It".
>
> One of my favorite quotes is from actor and adventurer Sterling Hayden's
> book
> "Wanderer".
> :...we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb
> beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, and
> playthings that divert our attention from the sheer idiocy of the charade.
> The
> years thunder by. The dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in
> dust on
> the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed.
>
> Where, then, lies the answer? In choice.
>
> Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life?"
>
> Cindy & I have frequently chosen bankruptcy of purse.  Someone once
> counseled
> "Go out on a limb...that's where all the fruit is!"