The New Adventures of the Old Chris and Laura

So, to us, buying a boat makes sense. At least that is what I am telling myself in this moment. And in this moment, I happen to be cruising down Highway 71 in the middle of the night. The Professor is driving and I am trying to sleep. In the back seat of a Prius. Have you ever seen an extra-large woman crammed into the back of an extra-small Prius? For 6 1/2hours? The professor says taking the Prius instead of the truck saves on gas. I hope he saves a lot because I may need chiropractic care and counseling for emotional trauma after this ride. I suspect I now know how the pony that my mom, with the help of an unsuspecting neighborhood boy passing by on his bicycle, felt when she crammed him into the backseat of her Maverick. The pony, not the boy. The boy pulled on the reigns while she pushed from the rear. Don’t worry, the pony survived, and I guess I will too, as uncommon and uncomfortable at times as this journey may be!

Living on board a sailboat also appeals to our desire to live on mission, nurturing new relationships and sharing the love of Jesus with others we meet along the way (and yes, while also allowing us to roam). As husband and wife, we have moved at least 9 times, that I can recall. Remember what I said though, about a mind like a sieve? So, it may have been more! Packing boxes, moving things, selling buying and renting. What a headache. Now, theoretically, when we want a change of locations, we can just sail away to wherever the wind blows and the Lord leads!

But it didn’t take the Professor long to realize he didn’t have much interest in homesteading. Caring for property and living creatures takes a lot of work. And time. So does providing for a family. It began to feel, for him, more like a burden and life sentence of considerable labor with little reward, because what he really craves isn’t farm fresh eggs or the satisfaction of filling his table with the harvest from his bountiful backyard garden or his freezer with hormone-free, grass-raised beef; what he really craves is adventure. Conquering the unknown, testing his limits, filling his mind with new sights and ideas and problems to solve while constantly changing his environment. Thus, the idea of living on a sailboat appeals to him, and I am onboard too, because even though this body of mine is beginning to feel its old age, my mind continues to conjure up youthful dreams of adventure that breathe the promise of excitement and challenges into the mundaneness of our increasingly habitual lives.

We then switched our attention to homesteading, buying a house on twenty acres, with a huge shop and a barn, cross-fenced into pastures for cattle. We raised chickens and vegetables and had a couple of horses, including my beloved Paco.

How did we come to this plan of action, you ask? I blame it on You Tube. This, I think, is where the Professor got bit by the sailing bug, because before the idea of living on a boat and sailing around the world caught hold, the plan was to build a cabin in the mountains. We even purchased a beautiful piece of property in Colorado only to have it devoured in a raging inferno, known as the Spring Creek Fire, the third largest wildfire in Colorado’s history, leaving over 108,000 acres of scorched earth in its wake.

Our new home happens to be a 42’ Catalina sailboat, built in 1994. That makes her 31 years old. Pretty old for a boat I guess, but oh how I wish I were 31 years young again! How much easier learning to sail and living aboard a boat would be before I acquired this old woman’s poor vision, aching bones, stiff joints and a mind that holds onto new information like a sieve! Oh well, fun times ahead!

Remember the sitcom, “The New Adventures of the Old Christine”? I think it’s a great title, especially for this stage of life, so I am borrowing it:

The New Adventures of the Old Chris and Laura

(Who, from here forward are to be referred to as the Professor and Mary Ann. Why? Because while Chris might not be able to fashion a radio battery from coconuts, he is smart, capable and handsome and can MacGyver his way out of anything with the help of You Tube and duct tape, so you can see the Professor reference, right? And as for Mary Ann? Well, the song doesn’t go “the professor and Gilligan” …duh!)

Yes, I am aware that I have referenced three different TV shows in one paragraph.

But, if you are still with me, we are on our way to Houston. Kemah to be exact. When the Professor and I left there ten years ago, I said I would never come back to this part of Texas where the air in summer is as thick with moisture as it is with mosquitos so that you feel like you are living in someone’s sweaty armpit; the instant you step out doors your clothes become glued to your body with sweat and your skin pocked with red itchy insect bites. But here we are, on our way to our new “home”. Thank God it’s not August!