Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Holidays at last!

It seems a long time, and it is. Last summer our sailing vacation was only eleven days. This year I have arranged for 20 days off in a row, and we're spending most of them on the water.

Beginning Day 5. I still wake preoccupied with thoughts of work, but they drift to other essentials, like weather and wind conditions.

In the North Country now. Olcott, Rockport, Pultneyville. Nostalgic little ports: Olcott with its carousel and expansive park lawns; Rockport and its private beaches; Pultneyville's historic town. Pick a decade from the last two hundred years and you could dress a set.

Rockport has a sign that reads 'Best Porch in America', but I soon met it's rival in Pultneyville. Rocking chairs, picturesque views of the sunset and boats bobbing in the water. Spaces to linger.

We're making good use of the dinghy, exploring green rivers inland. Olcott was so thick with duckweed it looked like you might be able to walk on water in places. Lots of fishermen, big rigs and small.Tributaries stocked for summer sporting.

And time to read without distraction! Hours on end to get sucked into parallel worlds while we're motoring from one spot to another. Devoured two books on the trip so far (Merde and the Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry). Now in the middle of a thick Pulitzer (Goldfinch).

We are well provisioned and feasting on the first leg of the trip. I stopped off at McKewan's Gourmet Grocery before we left for a few "treats" and found myself at the meat counter where the butcher was extolling the virtues of Wagyu beef,... the steaks were beyond my budget at $72 lb, so I chose some decadent burgers instead. Along with some Korean-style ribs. When I asked how long this would last in an ice cooler, he said he'd vacuum pack the meat. Fabulous! What a difference it has made to lasting freshness.

I spent a full day prepping and shopping, and we are now well rewarded with memorable meals. Really great food, including Bizmarck Burgers, papparedelle and chorizo bolognese, salads and fruit. Last night an Indian meal with naan. We're making our way through the cooler and then will end up in the pantry.

Up early enough to see sunrise from the boat's deck this morning. Today, I think we are headed for Sodus Bay.

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