Good Morning Everyone. A rainy last quarter moon morning here as we begin daylight savings time. We returned home late last night (after 9PM) having watched Nadie’s dance recital debut. Best 55 seconds of dancing I have seen in a while. Even Sawyer liked it.
We dedicate this blog to all the new crew members arriving in Maine over the next few weeks. You will never meet Major Floyd S. Chadwick, USAF (ret.) but he will touch your life. The major was a fixture here in Camden for many years, always encouraging crew (and owners too) to keep a stiff upper lip in the face of adversity and “be a friend on the side of the road” to everyone you meet. Major first came to Camden to sail aboard Mary Day and adopted the place and alll its windjammers. The Major eventually became the Camden Harbor Monitor helping the harbor master with his daily rounds and even filling in after hours to help the lost get found, his voice crackling out over VHF channel 11. He blessed every schooner that came and went. He knew secrets many of us “young bucks” hadn’t yet discovered. You see, he had been dead twice on the operating table and I figured that gave him a certain credibility. The morning cannon at the Camden Yacht Club signaling 0800 and colors seldom happened without the Major’s morning blessing, sage advice to us all.
Major’s Morning Blessing
Ohhhhhhh, Let the daaaaay begin! The Lord is in His Heaven, all’s quiet in the world. Pray your way through the day, Ask the Lord to show you the way, He hears every word you say when you pray. Oh harbor of a thousand faces, What strange and wondrous fate will befall us today? Give us a sign, show us the way. Stay in deep water, keep a good DR, Pay attention to wind and tide. Stay away from the lee shore. Listen to the wee small voice. Boats are made for water, rocks are made for scotch. If you’re towing a dinghy, keep a long floating painter. Thank you Jesus for this abundance. For give us for our sins and gluttany. Thus endeth the reading of the scriptures. And as General MacArthur said aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on August 15, 1945 –
“These proceedings are closed.” et cetera, et cetera, et cetera AMEN Pass the bread, meat and ‘taters!
Have a great day. Be well. Do good.