Setting: On a writing retreat to Sausalito last summer.
I’m sitting on the deck of a houseboat overlooking the water. A gaggle of geese swims by. I can see two egrets in the shallows, stepping daintily, picking delicacies from the mud with long, slim beaks.
I’ve got my favorite mug in my hand. It’s an elephant head, and the handle is the trunk. In it is a delicious fruit smoothie. I had planned to sip it slowly, savoring each sip as I wrote. Instead, I’m munching on it. The blender here doesn’t seem to work so well. It leaves big chunks of fruit unsmoothed.
No matter. The weather is perfect, the view sublime. I don’t mind chewing my smoothie thoughtfully as I write my very first blog entries. This is going to be the summer I actually launch my blog. (See The Reluctant Blogger.)
Earlier, I walked along the various docks, admiring the quirky and unusual houseboats. One looks like a pirate ship. Another is a San Francisco Victorian. A third is a Mississippi riverboat. Here’s one with a large sea serpent (possibly a small dragon) slithering charmingly along its roof.
It’s a setting made for inspiring creative juices to flow. Two houseboats down, a guy is playing his guitar on the dock. It’s a friendly community, and people stop to chat, pet each other’s dogs, and trade news. The resident who recently moved to a nursing home after 35 years on this dock. When they’re finally going to be done refinishing the parking lot. How to get rid of raccoons that lodge under your boat.
The photos below show where this blog was born.
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