9.06.2014

Maine

Just returning to Boston from Maine. We had incredible weather, not a drop of rain, and the winds cooperated just about as much as one could ask for.

The route included Gloucester, the Annisquam river, Isles of Shoals, Portland ME, island hopping in Casco Bay, Portsmouth NH, Ipswich Bay, and Marblehead. We saw sea lions and porpoise, and had a pod of whales surface 50 feet from our boat on a glassy morning a few miles off shore.

Much-needed time off the grid.

Renee at the helm

Fair Haven at rest on our new Mantus Anchor. We ventured ashore at every opportunity and the new hook served us well, even when the winds piped up.

The pirate pup


Exploring the tidal pools


Sunset from Isles of Shoals

4.02.2014

Love our beach, love our little friend Navitah!

Renee, Susan, and Navah

11.27.2013

11.23.2013

sunrise while provisioning


Virginia Beach, VA headed to Boston. 
Yes, there are warmer times of year to be sailing north....

6.17.2012

Portlandia

100 mile run today from Boston, MA to Portland, ME with Tom and Cynthia. Delicious toasted sesame bagel upon arrival!

6.15.2012

I met Doña Miriam last week. As I approached her small house (built 100 years ago) I stole a glance at the lush rolling hills covered in a canopy of glistening wet trees. Doña Miriam stands at just under 5 feet and celebrated her 90th birthday this year. As the last remaining local midwife here in the central mountain range outside Turrialba I knew I was in for a story or two. However, as I leaned in to kiss her cheek and she reached for my hands with her powerful grip, I realized I had no idea what I was in store for. Her energy was palpable. Doña Miriam caught her first baby when she was 14 years old, under the close tutelage of her mother. She was married at 15 years old at which time she gave birth to her first baby. She proceeded to have 18 more of her own, including two sets of twins (which she jokingly refers to as her "two-for-ones"). With only a working knowledge of the technical spanish vocab I was at a disadvantage and missed a few details of her best stories! However, with the loss of one sense, another is acutely aware. Watching her mannerisms and facial expressions while she spoke offered me a nice illustration of what she may look like at a birth. And if I had been pregnant at that time I would have shackled myself to her small clinic bed in the rear of her home to insist that she be the one of the first my baby would encounter on their welcome day. My daily life includes being a part of the occasional hustle here in San Jose and my trip to Tres Equis with Rebecca was a refreshing reminder of the many faces of birth and maternal healthcare in rural areas. It was also a reminder of the many degrees of separation between managed hospital birth and the midwifery model of care. As a student nurse-midwife every experience is another layer of understanding, another mountain of questions, and a moment of inspiration.

4.12.2012

semana santa

Much needed semana santa surf trip with Née, Schroeder, Dave & Bee!




3.06.2012

Somebody just turned a decade...

Celebrating the big 3-0 with a dinner for two at Plaza España...

2.05.2012

Home Sweet Home


No place in the world I'd rather be this week than in Oregon with my family. My smile is big.
This is Holden Bishop Pausch. More pics to come.
*Ty has been working hard in San Cristobal MX. He is much loved and missed immensely in this place.

1.13.2012

Surfs up.

Or not. Thanks for donating your longboard JP. A little (a lot of)
fiberglass and she'll be back in the quiver.

12.28.2011

Sew Much Better

Singer Heavy Duty. Best do-it-yourself inspiring, sailcloth repairing,
clothes-mending, funky design dreamin Christmas present ever. From my
tc. Textiles beware -there's a new gringa in town.

12.27.2011

Christmas.

Welcome home.

After dropping the Petersens off at the airport this morning we packed
up our jungle house in Ciudad Colon and moved to San Antonio. This
house is much closer to Ty's office and very near my spanish school.
It's nestled up in the mountains and, fingers crossed, has less creep-
crawlies. Today while moving we came across two pals trying to hitch a
ride to the new casa. Nope, sorry guys. No tarantulas or scorpions
allowed.

After unpacking our gear and grabbing a snack we were in much need of
a nice warm shower. That was just about the time the water tank fired
one of it's hoses and flooded the living room. As you can see Ty is
trying to have a good attitude as he holds a spraying pipe in his
soaked underwear at 11pm. Our new lanlord, Andres, and his 16 year old
son Paolo, are super heros and they had us dry and fixed in an hour.
Thanks guys!

12.18.2011

Puerto Viejo

10 hour round-trip drive to Puerto Viejo in the new diesel ruckus
mobile = $20.00. Sushi sashimi plate for two (at Lotus Garden) =
$26.00 (small diesel = cheaper gas = more sushi ;) One night at Monte
Sol cabinas = $30. Two fish sandwhiches and homemade ginger sodas =
$16. Waking up on the Caribbean and surfing Playa Grande...priceless.

This weeked was the inaugural surf trip for our new adventure vehicle.
After a drawn out process of legal/mechanical/financial hoop-jumping,
he is finally ours. A Peugeot 206 turbo diesel with a roof rack for
our precious "tablas de surf". Yes, he is French with the accompanying
attitude... His small turbo diesel engine sips fuel with a pinky in
the air. We have named him Jacque.

12.12.2011

Antigua

We just returned home from Antigua, Guatemala. Our hotel had a huge avocado tree in a beautiful open courtyard... ambiance and hand-picked snacks is an unbeatable combo!

12.05.2011

Returning.

Coming back to a place that, in many ways, opened my naive eyes is
refreshing. It was in Xela that I received my first taste of Spanish
which is such a huge part of my current life. In a small village close
by I held my first newborn baby just 1 second old and a dream, which
will shortly become reality, began. This place illustrated the reality
of joy, found in people (your family, neighbors) rather than
possessions. At the time joined by my boyfriend, long conversations
full of dreams, heartache, and anticipation; now accompanying my best
friend and lover with comfort and accountability founded in reality
and the Lord. So, after more than 6 years, our feet hit the pavement
here in Xela with hearts full of memories, heads full of all that the
years between held, and fully content with what God has in store for
our future. Learning to stop, breathe, and enjoy.
Quite a different travel experience than the first. Minus the chickens
this time...Don Jose picked us up from Guatemala City in a car and we
enjoyed a 3 hour drive through the mountains to Xela...with mouths
wide open the whole way, enjoying the beauty of it all, just like old
times ;)

12.04.2011

Lola's

Very relaxing surf weekend spent on the Pacific Coast. Post surf grub
at a local beachside spot...Ty recommends the Picante (cheddar,
jalapenos, olives) and I would say don't miss the Blanco (artichoke,
onions, and rosemary). Either way you'll get great waves, a chill
vibe, and friendly locals.

11.24.2011

I am thankful...

...for too many things to list.

For all the reasons that are keeping us far from family...I am
thankful that Stonewall Kitchens made the jungle feel like home tonight.

11.18.2011

Nigh life

When the sun goes down, the lights come on, and the jungle moths flock
to Casa Anaconda.

We call this little guy Darthvador.

Feliz Navidad

Feliz Navidad Tico style! The typical tamal is delicious. And wrapped
in a leaf...which is just fun.

11.16.2011

Home Sweet Home in Cuidad Colon...

10.17.2011

Make the Dangerous Choice to Dissent

I'm currently circling over the San Jose airport hoping that the tropical storm below will let our little Airbus A321 slip through the turbulence to land safely on the soggy tarmac. I just read the following post from one of my favorite economists. It's a bit of a conscience-tugging feel-good... But, hey, considering the relentless barrage of buy-that, look-this-way messages we get pelted with on any given day, I'm crossing my fingers that this challenge to "dissent" can penetrate my nearly unwavering preference for convenience.

xoxo.
tc


via Byline

Work harder, feel emptier, buy more, grow poorer...work harder. Sound familiar? That's the conventional wisdom of the omnipresent church of more, bigger, faster, cheaper, nastier, now. The problem is that the conventional wisdom isn't just wrong. If we want real human prosperity, the ability to live a live that not merely glitters, but that matters — well, then it was never right.

That's the nightmare whirling noiselessly within the dilapidated American dream. And while the dream's being furiously exported around the globe — and while the world might be seduced, despite lingering suspicion, by it — you and I know, by now, better: the paradigm that was supposed to lead us to the promised land has instead led us to this land of broken promises.

Hence, my suggestion is this: If you want to live a meaningfully better life, you're going to have to make the dangerous choice to dissent. A life lived meaningfully isn't denominated by digital friends, designer logos, or wads of paper notes. It's denominated by what you've lived, what it's worth to you, and what that's worth to humanity. That's the heart of eudaimonia, a new economic paradigm based on fulfilling human potential — not creating and marketing useless stuff. It's so different from our current conception that I had to reach back to Ancient Greece for a name I thought captured its essence. I'm developing it further in an HBR Single — a short, digital essay I'm planning to release in December. But in the meantime, here's how I see the crucial elements of a eudaimonic life:

Impact. Pursuing the paycheck first and last is a great way to spend your life desperately unfulfilled. Insanely great work isn't motivated by glittering jackpots — but by an abiding desire to, as Steve Jobs put it, make a dent in the universe. So take a deep breath and aim squarely at the lofty apex of human accomplishment — while stepping firmly onto the grimy pavement.

People. Life is about people, not product. If you're spending 80% of your time on "product", you're not fully alive. Lasting relationships aren't built by "networking" but by caring. This means investing in people, not just grinning at them. Hence, if you want to "connect," you probably have to do what's more dangerous than merely swapping email addresses or biz cards — you have to relate.

Purpose.
What is the fundamental reason you are here? To conquer the next pair of designer trophy jeans? Hardly. Brands are for cattle, strategy is for games, and consumers are for "output." Human life is about lasting outcomes, not just short-term payoffs; hence, I'd say the stuff of razor-sharp purpose begins there. Which human outcomes are you here to transform?

Courage. Compromising too readily with the past never creates the future. It only recreates the past. You can't find fertile new ground by dully plodding along after the herd — you've got to veer off in a different direction. So dream bigger. Be hopelessly naïve. And persevere unflinchingly.

Self-respect. If your society's going haywire, it's up to you to begin fixing it. If your work is sucking at your soul, and you see it doing relentless damage to people and society, quit and do something else. No, it's not easy — but odds are, the axe is going to fall over the next decade anyways. Value your inner life as much as you value your outer stuff. Stop buying into marketing's spin-cycle of self-loathing — "Feeling anxious? Buy this, now!!" — and start investing your time, energy, and imagination in action instead of stuff.

The first challenge is seeing through the empty promise of opulence. But the second, tougher challenge is refuting it. To do that, we're going to have start living heretically. We're going to have not just disbelieve the conventional wisdom — we're going to have to defy it.



Sent from my iPhone

9.19.2011

Trusted steed ready for battle

The tubular shred sticks of gnarliness arrived today (didn't get that? Me either...) after an overnight baggage delay. Ding free and ready for action. Thanks for a quick resolution, JetBlue.

7.26.2011

Saty

So, a very cool couple just offered our full asking price for our beloved sailboat (and home), Saty.... And we're having a hard time saying "yes".
More emotional heart pouring to come...

7.16.2011

Portuguese Cove

Cherishing the view from our favorite anchorage on Peddocks Island...

6.09.2011

Jellies

A surefire sign that summer is upon us... the jellyfish have returned to Boston Harbor. Thanks to Nee for snapping a pic...Also, we currently have Momma and Poppa C staying with us on the boat; much fun to be had!