Yesterday Rebecca had to work so I loaded our two dingy’s with food and kids and headed to the beach where the Water Island Community Association was putting on a pot luck Thanksgiving dinner. Often when our big family goes to these things we feel a little strange and get some odd looks even if we bring a ton of food ourselves. I always kind of feel like the fat man muscling his way up to the buffet table as I head in with our 5 kids. The folks on Water Island made us all feel very welcome and there was food enough for seconds for all. Benny, of course, only wanted to eat cake. He has somehow become a VERY picky eater which makes his life a little tough on the boat because we have a set food menu and he doesn’t like most of it. We also invited a guy named Shawn who lives alone on an old ferrocement ketch here. He sat at our table and gorged himself along with the rest of us.
Thanksgiving was always a really big deal when I was growing up. It was the holiday that would draw in more of my seven brothers than any other (of course they are all BIG guys so the feast probably played a part in that. I called home to Wyoming and talked with my Mom and could hear the sounds of family in the background. My niece Dr Sara is there with her new baby and several of my brothers were there. All of my kids talked on the phone with Grandma and we all missed them just a little bit more.
Later in the evening Rebecca called her family and they got on Skype so we had the cam going on our side and they could see us. We laughed and had a grand time like we were all together. Rebecca’s sister Amy and niece Ellie were there helping the rest of the family understand our life a little better since they stayed on the boat with us for a while last summer in Trinidad.
This lifestyle is great and none of us want to move on land again yet but during the holidays it sure is hard to be far away from those we love. Our buddy Christian would say, “Hey it’s part of the price of admission.” I think that is true, no matter what life you choose you have to take the good with the bad.
We Miss YOU ALL!
Captain Tofer, Becky, Jimmy, Emily, Kanyon, Kaleb, Benny and the dog Charlie
