Wind in the Wire

March 7, 2009

OK, it is 0530 aboard Why Knot. She is secured in the slip and after days of howling winds from astern, the shift finally came and the winds are light. Winds are now from the other end of the marina and we have hundreds of boats blocking the rollers for us. Days of high winds have caused us to tune out most sounds. Then, this morning, in the earliest moments of consciousness there is no sound save the low sound of wind in the rigging. That low sound is so soft and so musical that it reminds me of my childhood when I visited my grandparents in the grasslands of North Texas. It was back before air conditioning, back when one could actually hear the sounds outside. My grandparents lived on small hill, way out away from town. When they needed cooling, they opened the windows. When we visited, I got to sleep on a bed they prepared for me on the screened in porch. I remember the wind coming though that screen at night and how it was music to my ears. This morning, just for an instant, I awoke in that place so long ago. Wow, how nice it was. Mother Ocean was singing a soft song to those who would listen. There were no slapping halyards, no bird sounds, no engines running and no systems noise aboard at the moment.

One can appreciate that sound most often at anchor in some remote anchorage but it is rare in a marina. Add to that the glow of the moon through the hatches and you get one of those perfect fleeting moments that are gone quickly. I am almost always rewarded when the cool breeze taps me on the forehead early in the morning and I listen. This was one of those times.