Plan Crystallization

It’s Monday, November 23, and I’m sitting at the kitchen table in the river house in Deltaville. Not exactly what I’d imagined for the Monday before Thanksgiving.

Three weeks ago, we were planning a busy houseful of family and college kids for turkey and all the trimmings up at the OPO. Two weeks ago, that shifted when the college kids were no longer allowed to come; it was going to be just us and my parents (and maybe my cousin Terry). We had a fun version of a potluck planned with friends down the road - we’d all cook parts of the meal and swap carryout containers. Last week, the governor of Vermont laid out new restrictions in response to the alarming surge in coronavirus cases across the state - only people living in the same household can gather. Period. No visiting from my parents, no visiting from my cousin.

Hanging out at the lake wasn’t exactly a hardship. With the 2 propane heaters Jeremy installed in the house, we were very comfortable even in really cold temps. The views are stunning. As Jeremy said one day when he came through the house, bundled in his parka and carrying a snow shovel to go clear the deck, “Not so bad, this north country land lubber thing.” Doesn’t hurt that the grocery store in Newport where we go shopping has Heady Topper readily available, but we weren’t exactly longing to escape even without the beer thing.

Too cold to step outside to snap this shot.

But. Big but. Our goal is cruising. Cruising requires a boat. Our boat is decidedly not liveable - and our boat is also not in Vermont. Hard to work on the boat when it’s a 14 hour drive away. Jeremy had already blocked off the entire week of Thanksgiving as vacation time from work. Why not be making progress on the boat?

We’d hoped to leave on Friday morning (Jeremy’s taking every Friday off from work from now until the end of the year) but a quick reality check on both the amount of work needed AND the (nonexistent) amount of daylight left at the end of the work day bumped that back to Saturday. Good thing we made that decision. There is just no way we could have been ready to leave on Friday.

After a bit more than 13 hours on the road on Saturday, we arrived at the river house at 8 pm and started moving in. We’re house sitting for friends and fellow yacht club members, the same arrangement we had last year. We pay utilities and take care of the house that they don’t use outside of sailing season. It helps them (no worrying or racing down from Richmond if there’s bad weather) and helps us (a place to live 3 minutes away from the boat.) Wins all around.

view from the dock at the river house

Plans are a little bit like weather forecasts. The further out you go, the more you have to take it with a grain of salt. As you get closer, you narrow in on what’s most likely. Adjusting expectations and activities is an exercise in adaptation and flexibility.

Wherever you are for Thanksgiving, I hope you stay safe and healthy.