Luck Favors the Prepared, Darling

by EMILY ORTON on FEBRUARY 22, 2017

We've kept our noses to the grindstone, stuck to our schedule and made steady headway on our quantifiable goals.  We love our tracking tools, but sometimes an opportunity arises that isn't on our spreadsheet and we clear our calendar to make way for serendipity.  This week our friend Nancy offered to show us her sailboat and we offered to help attach her outboard motor in anticipation of warmer days ahead.  Unexpected was the opportunity to hank the jib, raise the mainsail and head out into open water.  We sailed upwind, keeling deeply as saltwater slapped the back of our heads as if to say, Remember this? 

"I wasn't expecting that!" Erik said.

"Yet, you brought two life jackets."

"Well, you never know," he said.

If you think you might sail in the northeast in February--Erik calls it, "Almost March"--I recommend snow pants.

On our drive home a friend texted to offer a free dresser.  We were already on the road with an empty van so we kept going to 76th street near Central Park.  And there was a big fat parking spot just waiting for us.  In 10 years of hunting for parking spaces in mid-town Manhattan, that has never happened to us.  So, yeah, that day was kind of magical.