Three Years ... and counting!

It's hard to believe it's been three years since we started this blog. I'm not sure any of us thought we would get very far in this endeavor, but look at us now. Over 1000 blog posts and three eBooks later and we're still going strong with lots of ideas in various stages of discussion and execution. Thanks for coming along for the ride. It's been great fun for me to receive these lovely and exciting posts from Marcie and David (who, if you remember, are my aunt and uncle) and deliver them all to you. We work hard to get a post out every day. Marcie and David write them and take all the pictures, constantly asking, “Is this blog worthy?” Then, they have to find a way to get them to me, with pictures, using sketchy internet connections. I receive them and get them ready to post on our blog-site. Then I post them to all sorts of social media outlets so that as many people as want to, can read them. It's been a good partnership and we aren't ending it any time soon … Yay!

Over the last three years I have ooh-ed and aah-ed and laughed as I've read and posted each and every blog post. Here are some of my favorite ones:

One of the many things I love about Marcie is that she is always up for a celebration or participating in a tradition. I love her posts about sailing traditions and superstitions.

“Killing an albatross is bad luck (as if). Killing a seagull is bad luck …they’re the souls of men who have died at sea. Seeing a swallow at sea is good luck … it means you’re close to land. Cats on board are good luck … they kill rodents (and potentially provide one extra meal…just kidding). Dolphins swimming beside the boat are good luck … they relay Neptune’s greetings and we like this one.”

Superstitious Sailors

Crossing the Line ... Again

Download Marcie's Days and Ways to Celebrate - 2015 for a year's worth of traditions and holidays to celebrate.

David has a wry sense of humor and there have been many times when I've busted out laughing only to have my daughters look at me funny.

“As for us, we aren’t going to worry too much about the “Ocean Flatulence” theory – it’s one of those things we can’t do a thing about. If it is a real phenomenon, we can only hope that Neptune enjoys his tot of rum enough to keep us clear of that particular type of night wind.”

The Blue View - Methane Bubbles

The Blue View - St. Helena Driving Tips

David writes most of the technical sailing posts on the blog. To be honest it's not my cup of tea (sorry, UD) but I know many of you love reading them. You can type “the blue view” in the search box on the right and read all the technical sailing posts he has written. Better yet, buy his book Nine of Cups Guide to Anchors and Anchoring for a detailed look at anchoring a boat in different situations (you mean you don't just lob a heavy piece of metal over board and call it good?).

There have been many times when Marcie has written a series of posts on a particular location and I've thought, “I want to live there!” Here are some of the places I want to live (or at least visit) because of Marcie's beautiful descriptions and gorgeous pictures.

“Bo-Kaap is a unique, vibrant, historically-rich community and interesting to visit. Many of the old cobblestone streets remain, narrow and steep and lined with brightly colored, well-kept row houses from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. The oldest house, built in 1658, stands as a local museum. The house colors knock your socks off … turquoise, purple, hot pink, mustard yellow, lime green. Eye candy for us wanderers.”

Around Town - Esperance, Western Australia

Living on Island Time

Colorful, Spicy Bo Kaap

I hope to create some eBook travelogues from Marcie's writings throughout these last three years. But for now you can download Nine of Cups' Caribbean Stories about Marcie and David's travels throughout the Caribbean.

I hope you enjoyed hearing about the blog from my point of view. It was fun to tell my side of the story.

Father's Day 2015

It's Father's Day today and I don't have to think much about my Dad before I start smiling. He died nearly 40 years ago, yet I can still hear his voice. In my mind's eye, I see him doing a Jimmy Durante impression (Goodnight, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are!) or letting me snuggle up next to him in his  old “easy chair” as we watched scary movies while my Mom was at work. He was a clown … always the life of the party … the New Year's Eve baby … the guy who made everyone laugh.

I called him Daddy when I was little, Dad as I got older and Papa when I went to college and became oh, so sophisticated. When ancient, parsimonious Uncle Louis, the patriarch of our family, admonished my Dad that he was wasting money educating a “girl”, my Dad ignored him. I went to a private Catholic women's college at great expense to my family. Dad had a 6th grade education … leaving school to work, as so many kids did in those Depression days. He was street smart and a fast learner and he was intent that both his daughters would be educated.

He worked as a laborer in a steel mill … hard work and a hard worker.  Sometimes he worked three jobs to make ends meet, but I don't ever remember him complaining.

I was definitely a “Daddy's girl” and unabashedly used that to my advantage, as daughters often do. He was proud of me and worried sometimes that I was ashamed of him. We never talked about that too much, but I sensed it. How could he ever have thought I would be anything less than proud of him? My eyes fill with tears just thinking about it.

He was likeable and loveable and I'm sorry that David and our sons never got the chance to meet him. He died of a heart attack at age 51, two weeks before Brennan was born. He left suddenly, without saying goodbye. I talk to him still and I'm convinced he listens.

So whether we call you Dad, Daddy, Da, Pa, Papa, Vater, Pere or you're a son, uncle, brother, cousin or close friend who serves as the paternal influence and male mentor in the family … relax … enjoy yourself.  Happy Father's Day … and thanks.

Check out how other countries celebrate Father's Day.

P.S. - My sister, Lin, added her definition of "Daddying” ... It's going on kiddy rides, playing at the beach, shoveling snow, and being both a father and a child.

Celebrating Flag Day

It's Flag Day today in the USA. Celebrated every year on June 14th, this American “observance” day celebrates the adoption of the United States flag back in 1777. It also happens to be the US Army's birthday when the Second Continental Congress (1775) approved the forming of an army for “purposes of common defense” … read that revolution! Officially established by Woodrow Wilson in a 1916 presidential proclamation, Flag Day is not a federal holiday … no one gets the day off or anything. It does, however, recognize the importance of the “red, white and blue” as an icon of the United States.

Americans are a very patriotic people. We refer to our flag as Old Glory, the Star-Spangled Banner, the Stars and Stripes. We sing songs about it: “Star-Spangled Banner” “Stars and Stripes Forever”, “You're a Grand Old Flag”. Francis Hopkinson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, designed the first flag. Tradition has it that Betsy Ross, a Philadelphia seamstress and upholsterer, fabricated the first flag just after the Revolutionary War, but historians doubt that's true. It was Betsy's grandson who introduced the notion that she was involved and there was no one around to dispute him, so the legend was created and survives. A hundred years after her death, artists were painting scenes of the historic flag-sewing event.

Flags were initially utilized by the military to identify troop location and provide signals and communications on the battlefield. At sea, the semiphore system was devised for communication between ships. Beginning in the 17th century in the great Age of Sail, ships customarily flew the flag of their nationality. Subsequently, displaying a national flag became a maritime law and internationally accepted.

Maritime signal flags, the nautical alphabet, are still used today quite regularly. Not only does each flag represent a letter of the alphabet, it also has an internationally understood interpretation. It's the reason we fly the solid yellow “Q” flag when we arrive in a new country. It signifies "My vessel is 'healthy' and I request free pratique."

It was only near the end of the 18th century that countries began adopting national flags. Today, every sovereign nation has its own flag.

A little vexillological trivia ... Vexillology is the science and artistry of flags and banners, from the Latin vexillum meaning flag or banner.

Most flags are rectangular. The flag of Nepal is the only non-traditional national flag.

The oldest, continuously used national flag is the flag of Denmark, the legendary Dannebrog which fell from the heavens and helped the Danes win a war against Estonia in 1219. The design was adopted as their national flag c. 1625.

Take a world flag quiz here!

and some American flag trivia ...

Robert G. Heft, age 17, is credited with designing the current 50-star American flag in 1958 as a high school class project. He received a B− on the project.

Symbolism of the US flag includes: 50 stars, one for each state; 13 stripes, one for each of the original thirteen colonies. Each color is symbolic as well: red for blood, courage and revolution; white for peace and purity: and blue for freedom and prosperity.

Additional stars have been added 27 times between 1777 and 1960.

Okay, I admit it. Once again, I've gotten carried away and a bit off the subject, but rest assured, we will be flying our national flag today. What about you?