Live in The Moment

I try to keep the wise words of my friend, Tanya Commerford accessible to the little man who lives in my brain.
You know, the little man who frantically opens and closes the multiple file cabinets, briskly searching through the millions of manila files stored in my brain for that oh so important fact or memory, saying, "No, that's not it", "Wait, could it be?" or "Here it is, I remember!", as I try to think of the words to that one particular song, who wrote the song, or what the name of that couple is that we met back in 1998.
I have asked the little man to post Tanya's wise words, "LIVE IN THE MOMENT" on the wall in front of his desk, just behind my eyes.
It worked well in The Sea of Cortez.
I enjoyed the light, warm breeze on my face as we motored from one anchorage to the next.
I enjoyed the feel of the salty, warm 82 degree water on my body as I swam at dusk.
I listened in awe to the sound the pelicans' wings make as they fly oh so close to the boat.
But here as I do the Baja Bash motorsail North with a Southerly component where the hell is that Southerly anyway?, it's not working.
I don't enjoy the sound of the wave "bombs" as they hit the underside of Meerkat's bridgedeck.
I don't enjoy watching waves come up over the bows and hit the cabintop.
I don't live for the cold air coming through the line areas on the enclosure.
I don't enjoy the half-assed attempt at cutting up chicken to make chicken salad sandwiches for the eaters crew as I am being slammed into the stove and tossed about in my galley.
And I know I am not enjoying the sleep deprivation this trip brings us all.
So when I am curled up in the cockpit watching the seas and white caps march by, I don't live in the moment.
Sorry Tanya.
Not this week.
I daydream.
I don't think about right now, I think about later.
I think about what I am going to cook for the next dinner at anchor.
I think about Ensenada.
I think about our last check in on The Amigo Net on single side band radio, saying "Meerkat has completed the bash!"
And think about the net controller's response of "good on ya!" when we are done.
Think about the Girl Scout Badge I am earning by doing this trip.
Think about San Diego and Catalina.
And the other morning?
While curled up in my bunk?
Way weird tangent daydream.
Must have been that bag of M&M's I ate before bed.
I started thinking of that Greek mythology guy, Icarius ~ the one who glued feathers to his arms with wax to make wings to fly.
Only he flew too close to the sun and the wax melted and he fell to Earth.
I was thinking of the "moral of the story" and how all these Greek mythology stories, fairy tales and children's books taught us these different "morals of the story".
Only I'm not so sure I have the morals right...
Quite possibly because I don't really want to "live in the moment" but the circumstances of the moment have overtaken the little man in my brain and his filing capabilities.
The bash is all consuming...
Today's morals are:
Icarius ~ Use sunscreen
Snow White and The Seven Dwarves ~ Surround yourself with little men who have different talents, or in other words, take crew with you on the bash. Handy ones are best.
Jack and The Beanstalk ~ Take lots of food and veggies with you on the bash. Beans and peanut butter are good.
Little Red Riding Hood ~ Uh, don't go to Grandma's house? I'm still working on this one.
Hansel & Gretel ~ Feel free to leave that little trail of 1" square paper trash pieces behind you, even though it's not going to help you find your way back down the outside of Baja.
The Three Little Pigs ~ Buy a well-designed and well-built boat.
Sleeping Beauty ~ That would be me... It's ok to sleep through the worst parts of the trip.
Go Cat Dog Go! ~ At the end of our journey, the "clan" deserves to have a really good party in a huanacaxle tree with killer party hats Ensenada.