Water Therapy

Remember the boat Mr. Moon drove to Texas recently to buy? Well, up until today, he'd still not put it in the water so this morning he asked me if I'd like to go on a little boat ride down the St. Marks River with him, get a little lunch too. 
Although that particular activity had not been on my bingo card for today and although I was still not in the best of moods, I said yes, I would. This was an important thing to him and I knew that. 
St. Marks is not that far from here and we have made the drive many times. I packed some towels and extra clothes and he got the boat trailer hooked up to his Pathfinder, and off we went. 

First things first though. I absolutely had to say a few things to him. To try and make him see, without him feeling threatened, that there were issues important to me that were not being dealt with and I needed his help in them. Mostly this is about this house. The house we live in. It needs a lot of work. For many reasons, that work has been put off and the problems mostly ignored although that's really not possible at this point. 
He listened. He agreed. He is going to call a contractor on Monday. 

And so my soul felt better. This is something we have discussed before but I think I needed to present my feelings to him in a slightly different way to make him understand how serious I am. And he did and as we drove through the planted pines and wild Florida swamp and over beautiful rivers, I think we were both eased and felt more at peace.

We stopped for lunch in St. Marks which is a fishing village, basically, that has become known for its marina on the river of the same name. There's a giant palapa restaurant on the water that I know I've discussed before and even posted pictures of.

The food was, as always...decent. 
We sat facing these signs.

The one on the right drove me slightly insane the entire time we were there. I am NOT a snob when it comes to correct usage of language but that was annoying as shit. 
We saw no alligators but they did not lie when it came to the birds. Grackles dove onto any french fry or lettuce leaf they could get their beaks on. 

And then we drove down to the marina where the boat was put into the water for the first time. Or, the first time since Mr. Moon has owned it. Here's a picture of it right before we smashed a bottle of champagne over the bow.

Hahaha! 
It is such a reasonable size and so much easier to handle than the very big boat he just sold. 

I think he likes it. 

We only went down the river for a short distance. It was hot but when we were moving at some speed, the air made it tolerable. Most of the little trip though, was done very slowly as many stretches of the river are posted to use idling speeds due to manatees. And that is a very good rule. 

Here are two of the pictures I took.

Cypress trees and their knee-roots.

A leaning palm. We saw many downed dead trees from a storm we had last year. Was it Helene? 

We did not see much wildlife. We saw many new docks, built since we were last there. We saw a man backing his boat into the water on a ramp under a bridge and then the boat coming loose from its line and floating off. We stopped to help but he swam out to it and got it to shore. It wasn't a huge boat and it was aluminum so that helped.
All in all, it was a peaceful ride. 
And I should have worn sun screen. I know it. I even brought some so no excuses. 

We'd wanted to go swimming but the water just did not look inviting. It was brown and reedy and so Glen decided to try the Wakulla River which enters the St. Marks but after a while at idling speed trying to reach it, we decided we were hot and tired and turned around. The Wakulla and the St. Marks both empty into the Gulf of Mexico, not very far from where we were. So, back to the marina where Glen did his magic (as far as I'm concerned) trick of driving the boat onto the trailer, aiming it perfectly to center right over the what-ever-you-call-that-thing-the-boat-has-to-go-over-to-be-winched-up-tight. 

 

I can't even regularly park a Prius properly between the lines at Publix. 

On the way home we stopped at the Wacissa which is very, very near the turn on the back road we take to St. Marks. We didn't dawdle there, we just jumped in, cooled off, and then came home. 

I am glad I went with him. I think it meant a lot. And the river and the trees and the marshy banks were a balm I needed. 

When we got home, an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly was having its way with the phlox. 

The boat which is so much easier to unpack, wash off, and clean than the old huge boat is back in its proper place in the garage and I have some sticky coconut chicken and rice in the oven. I saved this recipe a long time ago and finally, I am making it. I hope it's good. Anything with ginger, garlic, coconut milk, and roasted cashews is bound to be a little good, right? 

I'll let you know tomorrow how well that theory holds up. 

Meanwhile...

Love...Ms. Moon