Finding Laughter
Note: I always encourage subscribers and followers of this blog, who receive e-mails notifying them of a new post, to click and go to the blog site, rather than read my posts in their e-mails. The formatting, and any videos I embed, show properly in the blog site, not in e-mail. Here's the link: www.spiritedaway47.blogspot.com
__________
My recent posts have been technical and quite scientific. While I learned a lot researching for them, and had fun working with my dad to make them colorful, you'll find this one is lighter. Much lighter.
__________
Years ago my dad bought a book called “The Words Lincoln Lived By.” My mom packed it for me to bring to the boat as part of my Grade 7 social studies class.
Truthfully, I’m a bigger fan of science than history. But I have to do history for school, so I’ve finally started to read the book. (Ok, my dad is making me read it.)
The first section I picked to read was about Lincoln’s humor. Did you know Lincoln had a great sense of humor? I didn’t. When you think of the statues and photos of Lincoln, he always looks so serious. The pressures on him were huge.
Here's part of what the book says about Lincoln's humor:
"Lincoln had a famous laugh – rollicking, high-pitched, and loud. He loved funny stories, and when it came to telling one, few could surpass him. Lincoln often would tell one droll story after another, leaving his listeners convulsed with laughter.
Lincoln sometimes chided his cabinet members for being too serious." Gentlemen, why don't you laugh?" He used humor to find a way into people’s hearts, a way to connect with them. Like any good salesman, he understood that smiling people are more likely to make purchases or accept ideas than frowning ones.
Long before scientific evidence proved that laughter can actually prevent disease and sometimes cure it, Lincoln spoke of laughter as medicine. He realized that laughter could be an anesthetic that would help him bear pain. [One Congressman said of Lincoln]: "That laugh has been the president’s life-preserver.”
Lincoln Memorial. Photo Source: National Parks Service. The combination of reading my book and watching the Ken Burns' "Civil War" documentary aboard (where I learned so much about Lincoln) gave me an idea.
Why not write about humor on and off our boat as we travel? The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of making a post with a lot of funny photos we've taken over the past two years, and captioning each of them. Here's why...
_________
Moving a big boat, in unfamiliar waters, with unfamiliar conditions (like tides and currents), sometimes day after day, can be incredibly tiring and stressful -- and sometimes scary, especially when we were first getting started. It's so much more work than just "going for a boat ride." Also, since even a big boat is actually pretty small, my dad and I sometimes get on each other’s nerves, and that can lead to arguments over planning, prioritizing, preferences, handing tough situations, and yes... doing my schoolwork.
The combination of stress and tiredness brings out our worst. My dad and I have had to deal with this. We still have to.
But our senses of humor, and the fact that we are both wired to look for humorous things, has helped us offset difficult times with plenty of funny ones. It has also helped us recover and reset.
__________
I find it interesting that Lincoln’s humor was described as a “life-preserver,” because here I am on a boat, and a life-preserver is a boating item. As you can see in the photos, seeing funny things and being funny is a life-preserver for me too.
No one knows what this year and beyond will bring. So much of that we can't control. But if we try extra hard to build humor into our days, and if we look more closely for humor around us, I think it will help us make things better.
So here we go. Humorous moments and a comment about each...
Kill Devil Hills, NC
Wright Brothers National Memorial and Museum
So here's the story... We'd spent hours at the museum, taking the guided tour, checking out the exhibits, and walking the grounds where the Wright Brothers achieved the world's first controlled flight. We then ran from that point (literally raced each other) up to the top of the Wright Brothers Monument. That was a rush. So what's funny about this picture? Well, when we were leaving the museum, exiting through the gift shop (of course), I persuaded my dad to buy me a souvenir. Because this museum was all about flight, I chose a boomerang. Except nether of us knew anything about how to fly one. Since my dad usually has zero patience when it comes to reading instructions, we just went outside and threw it around in the field. But it just wasn't coming back. After a while, this man came over. He introduced himself as the team captain of the USBA. That's the, uh... United States Boomerang Association. Can you believe this? He also told us his team won the World Boomerang Cup, beating Australia. Then, he gave me a quick lesson about flying a boomerang. Within minutes, I could do it. My dad and I still laugh about the incredible coincidence. I mean, what are the odds?! By the way, as soon as we got back to the boat, we looked all this up just to confirm he was who he said he was. It was all true. We've come to think he approached us because he couldn't stand watching us flail about.
Schenectady, NY
We were half way up the Erie Canal having an amazing experience. This was the day our training captain stepped off the boat and my dad became the official Captain. That didn't stop me from making fun of him though. "C'mon dad. How hard can it be with such a tiny boat?"
We were still trying to figure out what some of the displays meant on our boat.
For example, why are all these fish following us?
Norfolk, VA
USS Wisconsin
"Oh please, oh please... Can we put one of these on our boat?"
Titusville, FL
Went for a walk. Saw a KFC. Got a chicken craving. Went inside. Saw this poster.
Now look closely...
Did Colonel Sanders really have a chicken pocket?
Palm Beach Gardens, FL
We'd just tied up for the night and left the boat to take a walk. My dad almost always takes a beer with him. After a long day on the water, we tend to feel a bit giddy. It's just such a relief to take responsibilities off our shoulders. Anyhow, we found one of the electrical panels unlocked at the lock. So we opened it to take a fun photo. Who knows how many volts were in it. The switches were big! But we were careful, and we have this memory forever.
Any live-aboard who has done the Intra-coastal Waterway (ICW), and sees this knows EXACTLY where I am. Because this is a prime destination on the ICW. Get it? Prime? Anyhow, this is my dad's dinner. It's called the "Captain's Cut." It weighs 32 ounces. I get the "Mate's Cut," which is also huge. I usually get my dad to fast the day we are going to Coinjock.
Bald Head Island, NC
Ok, this wasn't funny at the time. It was really scary. But, as they say, we can laugh about it now. I'd set up a time lapse camera to film our entrance through super-narrow, rocky, Bald Head Island Jetty. The tide was ripping sideways like crazy when we approached the narrow jetty. We turned our rudder so quickly I "hit the deck". It was dicey getting in without hitting the rocks, but we learned some great things that day. Including this: it feels amazing to push through a challenge and succeed.
My dad grabbed his phone and snapped this pic of me, right after the barber told us "I'm not a barber. I just fill in for my son once a week."
Notice the Sweeny Todd poster in the background.
New Smyrna Beach, FL
Though I'm almost 14, servers still give me the kids menu. "Why not?," says my dad. "It costs less."
Today, he went too far. He suggested I choose from the Doggy Menu.
Nice try dad.
I ordered Eggs Benedict.
This is great, Salty! I love that you wrote about all the funny stuff you and Dad have seen and done. I think that's one of the best parts of your adventure so far. Now I think you need to follow this post up with one about the hilarious things you guys have heard over the ship's radio. Remember Gunslinger? Lol.
ReplyDelete