A dream fulfilled...

Big day in 'Todd World' today.

I closed on a boat.

A real, live, will (barely) fit my family, keelboat.

Something, I've been dreaming about since I was 12.  And when I say 'dreaming' I mean actively so. If I were to sit down and count the number of hours I've spent wandering around boat yards and marinas, dreaming about the day when I'll have my 'own' boat to be working on come spring, my 'own' boat to be launching come May, my 'own' boat to be figuring out how to dock elegantly at the marina in Bronte Village, my 'own' boat to bring friends and family to, my 'own' boat to sail the lakes (and someday the 'beyond') on, my 'own' boat to sip a glass of red wine on with my friends as the kids fall asleep below, my 'own' boat to take out in a storm just to see how close to the edge I can get, my 'own' boat to--one day--take me and my wife (and maybe the kids) over the horizon (and back) I'd have to conservatively say it would add up to...

364 hours in the past 14 years.

That's 15.2 ENTIRE DAYS spent wandering marinas, dreaming.

(a six month season x 3 days a week x 20 minutes per visit x 14 years of doing it divided by sixty times 24)

As my wife says; "Obsession!"

That said you can understand why today was such a good day, taking the broker an envelope full of cash, handing it over, shaking his hand and pocketing a signed bill of sale.

For "Aiyalon", my first real sailboat.

("Aiyalon Entertainment" is the name of my production company and "Aiyalon" will be the name of all my boats--not just so I can write the boats and their expenses off--but because "Aiyalon" refers to the Valley of Aiyalon in the OT where God made time stand still so His people could defeat their enemies.  I figure that's what good entertainment does, makes time 'stand still', and for dang sure, that's what a sailboat does for me)

Makes TIME stand still.

Aiyalon.

Got a nice ring to it.

I stink like varnish.  I was re-doing her brightwork today. She doesn't have much of it, all the more reason to make sure that what she does have, looks awesome.

Lemme' say this.

I decided last season (spring/summer/fall 2009) that that was it, I wasn't going to spend another season sitting on the grassy hill beside the marina watching longingly (almost with palpable pain in my heart) as all the boats came and went on those breezy summer nights.  We were sitting there one night--ice cream with the kids our usual deal--and I just turned to Niki and said; "That's it, I don't care what I have to do, next year we're going to be on the water."

I think, as an aside, that we'd just seen "UP" and I was cut to the heart with the need to embrace 'today' for all it has.

It's now next year.

And we're going to be on the water.

I will admit that I've spent the entire year, doing my best to squirrel away the money needed to make this purchase.  I've watched my account, pared down my spending, been careful to tithe faithfully, talked lots with my wife about it so that we can plan accordingly, basically done whatever it takes to make this happen.

To make a dream come true.

I realize, of course, that there are larger forces at play here.  I 'get' that I'm not actually making anything happen.  I spent a lot of time praying thankfully today, believe me.

But it's a combination.

God rules, we obey.

God ordains, we work.

God calls, we dream and follow.

God gives, we bless, thank and serve.

God gives wind...

We sail.

Oh yes we do, we do, we do...

T