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We bought a boat last year, a 21-foot Chaparral bowrider, which we love. However, from a practical standpoint, we have started to contemplate perhaps selling it and getting a travel trailer instead. There are a number of advantages to this kind of switcheroo, from my perspective, anyway, but I wanted to see if my Readers have any thoughts about us doing this, especially if anyone has done the same, or similar, kind of thing.

On the upside:

  • With a travel trailer, we would have the ability to pretty much take off and GO, regardless of the weather forecast. We’ve quickly learned that not just rain, but wind, temperature and lake conditions can limit boating opportunities in what is already a pretty narrow outdoor season for us here in the Midwest, sometimes for weeks at a time. I love the idea of us traveling all over the U.S., even in the winter, to places where warmer weather beckons and getting a travel trailer would help keep us off the couch, much as we enjoy our YouTube videos, football and basketball and other streaming entertainment!
  • If we opted for a travel trailer instead, providing our own lodging would simplify the inclusion of Coco, our much beloved furry companion. Currently, we have to search out hotels, B&B’s, and other accommodations that allow pets OR find someone to watch him. At the beginning of summer this year, we had four dog sitters on speed dial. Now, we have just one and she isn’t always available. Many ‘places to stay’ do not allow you to leave your dog in the room when you’re not there. That excludes so many travel and sight-seeing options: restaurants, museums and other indoor venues. National parks, most if not all, do not allow dogs. With a travel trailer, we could leave puppy for a brief stint whenever there’s something we want to do by ourselves. NOTE: Coco is 7 1/2 years old but, to me, he’ll always be puppy!!
  • We are already familiar with towing a boat so the learning curve for a travel trailer, it is assumed, would not be as steep.
  • Likewise, because of the boat, we already have a storage unit. That was a major headache for us at the beginning of our boat-owning journey so cross that item off a travel trailer To Do list.

With a travel trailer, there will always be finding a place to set up camp, the set-up process itself, less living space and maneuverability challenges. ALSO: We’re in our sixties and in a few years, launching and loading and getting in and out of a boat might prove more difficult as we move into our 70s and beyond. Again, it is assumed, those concerns wouldn’t be as jarring with a travel trailer.

If anyone has other insights or comments, I would LOVE to hear from you. Thank you, in advance, SO MUCH!!

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so dope

groovy, cinema

& cool

bee’s knees

cat’s meow

sick, stellar

awesome & wow

eons of ways

to say just how much

I’m really digging

this fantabulous

October day

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SO tired and weary and distressed by the utter chaos, hatred, pettiness, poison, misinformation, un-American-ness and division of this regime.

Sorry.

Just HAD to vent…

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the lake today was divine.

we trolled the perimeter,

nice & slow & easy —

I took the helm, briefly,

piloting twisting curls

atop the water’s glass,

jumping & jostling across

our own wake.

*

later, you relayed

a few Hegseth outtakes

from today’s uber-odd military confab.

mood-killer on steroids, that’s for sure.

damn you, MAGA morons. all of you!

not once, but twice

you animated this monster

to the detriment of all.

I’m so angry and outraged,

worried and frightened.

Seriously.

Is this really what you all wanted?

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I am truly fearful. This country has turned into a dangerous, divisive, unstable republic. All thanks to one ‘man’ (hardly a role model for any young boy, or girl!) and the millions of misguided, hateful, misinformed voters who not just once, but twice, put this despicable, deceitful, self-serving moron into the office of the presidency.

And then there’s this….

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Daily writing prompt
What’s your all-time favorite album?
View all responses
  • Jesus Christ Superstar (this one is probably top of the list!)
  • Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd
  • Tapestry by Carole King
  • Breakfast in America by Supertramp
  • Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John
  • Rumors by Fleetwood Mac
  • Close to You by The Carpenters

I know I’m missing some here. Probably A LOT!

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~ for Shelly & Diane

It’s that time of the month again.

Today, I’m meeting up with my fabulous poetry pals at our favorite gathering place, The Mercantile, just outside a bustling new agricommunity, in the rural wonderland of central Iowa, chowing down pita chips and their amazing dip – we can never decide between the garlic herb or the Merlot so now we just get one of each.

We’ll each savor a cool drink – I love their Honey Fire cinnamon whisky concoction – as we’re doted on by Robert and / or Rick (most agreeable young fellows!) inside a renovated country schoolhouse, with its charming brick walls and ceiling beams. Prairie grasses and field flowers sway in Iowa’s ubiquitous breezes, a pleasant view outside the tall north-facing windows, snug – just the three of us – in our preferred, cozy little corner, reading and sharing each other’s poetry.

It is a marvelous way to spend one’s afternoon.

I always, always eagerly look forward to spending this time with Shelly and Diane. I’m very grateful to have been invited to join this tiny but perfect little group. We discuss poetry, of course, and family and books, gardening and cooking, travel and film. And sometimes – sadly, often angrily – the dreadful, tumultuous state of our country. It’s best though, to not spoil the mood of our little get-together so once we’ve vented our frustrations with the current regime, we quietly and simply move on to other, more optimistic passions!

Our personalities, such a fine mesh. Our poetry styles, obviously unique and quite different from one another’s. Our accumulated life’s experiences, vast and varied.

For today’s Brew, I’ve prepared two poems birthed from the pages of my daily journal, each one written in the last few weeks. This morning, I tweaked them a bit – and then a bit more. Poems are, as you may know, never quite finished.