As I write this last entry into the Aleydabeth blog, I am sitting in a hotel room in Phoenix Arizona. I was fortunate to catch a ride north across the border with Ian and Diane and Jack and Meghan. They dropped me in Phoenix, where I am waiting for my plane home to Calgary on Thursday.
Lyle has stayed in Guaymas with the “other woman in his life”, Aleydabeth. He is doing some fiber glass work, and some carpentry projects and will follow me home in a couple of weeks.
I have some quiet time now, and reflect upon the adventure of a lifetime. The Baja coast is a haunting, lonely and beautiful place. I loved the quiet desolation of our anchorages and the subtle beauty of the desert landscape. I got acquainted with a different culture, where daily life seems more difficult, yet simpler somehow. Perhaps the Mexican people ask less of it than we do. I loved to watch the marine life and the light play on the water. I liked the salty taste of the sea on my lips off the spray from the bow of the dingy, and watching my salt covered skin turn brown in the warm sun. I appreciate fresh water, how little there is, and how much we take it for granted.
I realize and embrace how important people and relationships are in our lives. I missed my family, and took comfort in old friends, yet made new friends who hold a different special place in my heart. I have done without comforts that I considered necessities and have learned to “live small.”
I have even learned a bit about sailing and the sea over these few thousand boating miles! I have been caught remarking that perhaps we could “put the sails up,” or “shouldn’t we move the traveler over to the other side.” Before, the only nautical phrases I was sure about were “put a reef (or two) in the main!” or “does the boat have to lean over so much?” or “how much longer until we are home?”
And, I learned that no matter where I wander or what wonders I see, “I am Canadian” and I am always glad to come home. My thoughts have turned to snow covered mountains.