Christmas in Door County, WI

We went to Door County for the first time in years to experience a white Christmas. I hurried out with camera, before the light dusting disappeared, to find a suitable memory to record for the trip.

There’s something about a canoe’s sultry shape, frosted with snow, that appeals to the eye. As provocative a shape that can be imagined. As she lay there chilled in the grass, the silence of still water spoke to me of the past season…the many voyages that began just beyond this shore, now frozen, as “Tern” set sail unto the sparkling blue waters of Baileys Harbor and out into Lake Michigan.

It was a summer of recuperation following a spring of challenges. They have all been met, and Sue has fully recovered from her brush with mortality. The tonic of sailing was great consolation to memories of our trawler, lashed in her berth for the summer in steamy Florida, patiently awaiting our return in the fall.

And now we are back from the winter visit and “Susan Lee” is ready to go. If all goes according to expectations, we will head north along the west coast of Florida for a couple of weeks in early March in search of what’s left of “old Florida”. There are still some pleasant surprises to welcome the inquisitive sailor tucked among the waterfront condos, strip malls, and sunburned tourists that stretch from Clearwater to Naples. Fishing villages, pristine barrier islands, off-the-radar small funky towns, and sand strewn inlets that are best navigated by eye rather than electronics.

Happy New Year

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