January 22, 2009

Another Enemanet break coming up;
It's been difficult the last week or so to keep up with things at our normal pace. We've been kittysitting for the new kitten that Karen and Cary Evertts (yacht Seal) got a few weeks ago. They went to Hawaii for a little vacation and asked us to take care of the new pet. Jilu is a pretty high intensity kitten, and anything that moves is subject to attack. She can be fun to play with, but then can go over the edge into this manic, out of control state. She was pretty frequently drawing blood when she'd lose control during a play session, and a couple times a day we had to close her up in a storage area under a floorboard, and let her settle down for an hour or two. Doing any sewing, or anything with a rope was out of the question, and if you're on the computer, she feels compelled to dance on the keyboard.
The upshot of this is that Karen no longer feels a driving need to get a kitten when we return to NZ, and now that the kitty is back living on Seal, we are headed for Enemanet for some out of town time. Karen likes to snorkel the coral out there, and feels less surrounded with the city atmosphere. She is just finishing a course of antibiotics, fending off pneumonia, which has been making the rounds in Majuro for the last few weeks. It's left her with pretty low energy levels, and she's looking for the lowest demands possible for a few days. I can use the time to start a "spring cleaning" project on Sequester, making a list of what I have stored where, and cleaning and checking all my tools, materials and parts. I have a few projects to finish up, and then want to sell or give away a lot of stuff before we head south May first. It would be good to sail at least moderately light going down, to have the potential for making a fast passage, and to have the least strain possible on the boat if (when!!) we hit bad weather. I've had a couple of massages from a local lady who came highly recommended, and she's making considerable progress with my messed up back, so I'm good for a bit of work each day.
So, unless I catch a ride back to town with one of the folks who have big, fast dinghies, we won't be doing any email for about 5 days. Don't count on responses for a few days here. We'll have the cell phone with us, and that will still be in range out there if there's an emergency. We don't do much texting, but maybe this would be a good time to work on those skills if I want to check on stuff. With my news junkie mentality it's hard to let go of the communications! I'll try to do some writing while we're out there, too. I've concentrated for the last year or so on the many good and enjoyable characteristics of the islanders, but to give you a more rounded picture I think I'll try to outline some of the frustrating and sadder parts of the culture here. Optimism is good, but truth is required. Everyone have a good week out there! Ted