A Second Wind
Sails Shaken. Related to ill wind experiences, having
by Emiliano Marino
Blimey, shipmates, just when I thought my get up ‘n’ go was gone and I’d about exhausted all the topics pos- sible, I got a second wind! My sails filled and here I schoon, a bone in my teeth, in a four-lower breeze of industry and determination! Used by lubbers and sailors
alike, there are a galeful of familiar, wind-related sayings out there: Fair winds escort you! It’s an ill wind that blows no good. Shake the wind out of your sails. Get wind of something. Not worth a hen’s fart in a gale. Spitting to windward. Better a storm than a calm. Well, let’s take a gander at these salty aphorisms from a metaphorical slant.
Fair Winds Generally, the good and relatively easy times, what might fair winds look like? Above all, good health and wanting for nothing essential. Moreover, there’re helpers such as community, compan- ionship, music, art, creativity, financial windfalls, and falling in love with a boat.
Ill Winds The lumpy unpleasant, arduous and painful times are winds said to blow some good because they always offer contrast and give rise to appreciation for the times of fair winds. Tere may well be a silver lining to clouds blown in a tem- pest: unforeseen benefits and changes. Ill winds might look like poor health,
want, abandonment, loss and suffering. Loved ones die, boats sink, houses burn, people do stupid, disrespectful and cruel things. But, with help, optimism and ef- fort, something wonderful may rise from the wreckage: new relationships, places, people, boats and gratitude for what was, what can be salvaged and for the oppor- tunity, if seized, to let go and try again.
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the wind blocked, impeded or getting your wings clipped are times of disen- chantment, frustration and inexplicable obfuscations; downright discouraging stuff. Typically, caca hits the fan when you’re coasting gay and thinking life’s a breeze or are in the midst of a valiant effort to achieve something. Ass-pains abound: like epoxy going off way too soon, the battery dying in your cell phone, a loan that doesn’t go through or a slip rental going up unaffordably.
Better a Storm Overwhelming complications, puzzles and travails are better than stagnation. A flat-lining calm is a boring, living death; drifting onto the rocks…. especially if the motor fails and you’ve no oars. Life’s storms can be invigorating, exciting, challenging; ultimately blowing some joy into one’s voyage. Storms scare me but not as much as the extreme alter- native.
Second wind Literally, another breath, chance, re- newal or revival. Behold yonder bonny lassie rowing through the storm as rays of sunlight peek through the clouds. That’s Salty Sue: no spring chicken—and no chicken—who altered a dead end course of conventional, lat- ter-life decline into a new voyage of health, activity, exploration and discovery. Before embarking upon her renascence, she’d survived plenty of trials: gender benders, health problems, motherhood and marital demise. Then she caught her second wind.
Such lessons may teach more care in
trusting people, reading directions thor- oughly, being more judicious in terms of quality, or building a stable craſt with light-air sails.
Getting Wind Staying alert and vigilant with a weather eye out for both fair and ill winds will help keep your sails full and drawing. One can wait to see what’s in the wind or promptly take initiative to find op- portunities in what and where a wind’s blowing.
A Hen’s Fart Figuratively, worthless pursuits, hens’ farts are counterproductive, time-wast- ing endeavors; life-sapping addictions and behaviors that offer no fulfillment or creative expression. At best, they’re just treading watery quicksand ‘til the grim reaper comes for the harvest. Lub- berly, and not to countenanced, there’s cheap bird material such as poor quality roller furling gear and a chump outboard motor that are likely to fail at the worst possible times. Making do with hens’ farts is like spitting to windward: a futile act doomed to foul your own face.
How’d she do it? She grappled with
all the aforementioned winds and lit- erally took the tiller in hand by simpli- fying her lifestyle and possessions and, through boating, established a Whole Earth Nautical Supply company. It took time, determination and help. Salty Sue’s still navigating the transition and there’s never a dull moment! She’s no jibber!
Jibber-free Never let your mom say she had a jibber! Sometimes turning over a new leaf and getting out of a bonny cripus requires little more than a change of attitude, and a good project; like the stitchmate in the last SCA issue who went from a ditty bag to canvas work galore! Boats provide so much opportunity for getting off on a new tack, there’s no excuse for languishing in doldrums of depression and despair. Heave a glance at the cover of issue
#114. Those blokes were momentarily becalmed but, having the time of their lives out there doing what they love to do. You catch my drift? Don’t wait for that second wind, make it happen! Whistle up a breeze and sail, like a bat outta hell, into the New Year! •SCA•
SMALL CRAFT ADVISOR
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