navy

/

aka Kengali's Smooth Sailing. the new girl.

'big brother'

navy gravy . 'cause she pours it on'

unbelievably affectionate and loving, intense and brave. curious. funny and always hungry.

'cause she pours it on? yep. love love and more love. navy like gravy.

accompanied by a friend who works for Jet Blue, i flew from NYC to Boston to Orlando and back to NYC to bring her home. dec. 20-21. 2016. 7 weeks old.

a week later her first weekend trip. the poconos. the next week. montauk. 2 months later navy was a full time nova dog. 

after a few years of what felt like overwhelming personal loss. navy was a new light. a reminder to embrace our past present and future. to accept the now. the memory and with hope - the unwritten story. she reminds me of toulouse from time to time. she reminds bean . not all is lost. 

navy is named for my grandfather, a naval aviator and sailor whom I admired and adored. 

"make haste to be kind" -RH

getdrunkbeardown . hugyourdog . dothenovadance

navy and boris in nova

benjamin

/

if found please call 207 . . . . . . . 

benjamin

the dingy to the left in this snapshot at sunrise in september. a plaque on his stern has his name and phone number in case he is found at sea alone. area code 207 plus another 7 will get benjamin home.

i'm not one to disclose much and i won't tell you where benjamin lives. sorry. it's just too sweet of a spot. and it is public.

I have shared this blog with a few people. what and why are the first questions. others ask what the hell. yea. i know. i'm a bit brief. curse of a poet and a short attention span. 

what? stories. poetry. snapshots. life.

why? because if i don't write i go crazy and people ask a lot of questions. consolidated answers.

what the hell? benjamin made me smile. he is a story of an impeccable sunrise in an exquisite place. a life simplified with nova. waking up to the sun. not the noise and wondering what number should be on my stern in case mother nature wins the battle. he also stirs up memories of my childhood. 

my grandfather was a sailor. an aviator. a philosopher. a father. my role model. yea there's more. my mother and I secretly bought back his dingy from a boat yard in maine. after he passed away my grandmother put it up for sale.

alleluia.

you should have seen her face when we told her.

life is. well. short. 

getdrunkbeardownandfindbenjamin 

locals

/

finally. found the local fisherman's pub. cheers for sharing this sweet rarity.  15 days in maine

this little guy made the news? word. 

rain was forecast for the afternoon and we were tired of driving nova on the winter-beaten roads of maine. well into our 15-day trip up the coast and eager to find a not-so-touristy spot to grab a beer, we meandered into a local pub that overlooks southwest harbor. 

about half way through the evening the bartender brought us outside to check out this rare blue lobster.  You're a mainer he said, here!

indeed i am.

and then it poured and the dogs hate the rain so we dry camped in the harbor parking lot behind the boats and the bakery and hung at the pub. 

last call is 9 but we didn't leave until after 10:30 - sorry we're closed the bartender said when someone walked in, they all work here. 

to their surprise, we kept up with the locals packing pints and shared stories about fishing, sailing, harbors, road trips and small towns.

 a few days later, my brother and grandmother told me the lobster had made the news:

rootin' for a throw back.

to the crew at the pub - thanks for making us feel like locals for the night and thanks for sharing this blue gem with us.

just returned from 15 days in maine with nova, unplanned and unmapped. 

stories of me, my best, murphy and touls in nova for 15 days on paper - digital soon. 

getdrunkbeardownandlovethelocals