Parenting
-
Pure Spirit
I fell in love with Betsy in Jacksonville, Florida, while she was out cold. I never saw anything so beautiful as that brave girl’s face. It was not the usual […]
-
Slow Leak
Having a baby is very like offshore sailing: ahead of the birth, before setting sail, you think you have a plan, all laid out as a series of lines drawn […]
-
Authority
The first rule at sea is don’t fall off; you never let go unless the vessel sinks out from under you. Most sailboats, like most marriages, can withstand more stress […]
-
A Man’s Place
For several days, I debated whether to swallow my pride and motor back to Clear Lake. I could tell the broker I’d bought her from to sell her, send me […]
-
Superstitious
No amount of precaution and planning would keep Betsy comfortable for long in open water. She had no experience of time in a seaway All she had seen in the […]
-
Synchronized
In North Carolina, we looked for a house up and down the Outer Banks, and all along the western shore of Pamlico Sound, no luck. But a boat like the one […]
-
Beyond Romance
I called Betsy from a phone booth in Edenton, North Carolina, on the Albemarle Sound, where descendants of Blackbeard the Pirate were members of the Chamber of Commerce. I was […]
-
Hurrying to Elsewhere
Leaving church, I drove out to the Oconaluftee River, found a rock to sit on, and stared at the moving water. I prayed and waited for some echo, some after-shock […]
-
Empty As A Pillowcase
I had known women who wanted children, who had spooked me. One in particular was a candidate for marriage and motherhood not far behind me: Betsy had moved in, and […]