
The View from Sea Level

I Was forced to Spend Five Days in Paradise
This happened in the middle of a sailing trip during which we planned to visit the US and Spanish Virgin Islands (the latter are part of Puerto Rico). One could argue that the entire nine days of sailing was in paradise, and one would be correct. But we did not plan to spend five days… Continue reading I Was forced to Spend Five Days in Paradise →

I Found my Rigging Knife
Finding it means I’m back aboard in mind, body, and spirit.… Continue reading I Found my Rigging Knife →

Lost and Found
I impulse bought a couple Apple Air Tags—those devices you attach to your valuables so you can track their location. I put one on my keys and one in my handbag. When I got to Cape Cod a couple weeks ago, I noticed that the one on my key chain was not. Damn. It must… Continue reading Lost and Found →
Rounding the Cape
A little sort of ten years ago a friend and I booked a ten-day passage aboard a tall ship, sailing from Portsmouth, Virginia to Fernandina Beach, Florida. We were in it for the experience of rounding Cape Hatteras “on the outside.” And what an experience it was! From the glory of dolphins playing in our… Continue reading Rounding the Cape →
Cutting the Cord
The day my former employer informed me that my services were no longer needed I immediately took two actions. I updated my mobile plans for my phone and iPad, and I cut my cable. Specifically, I informed Verizon that the package of phone, Fios, TV, and internet I was paying a crazy $250 a month… Continue reading Cutting the Cord →
More than a year ago…
The beach glass is back in my bathroom sink. More than a year ago, I started closing the toilet lid before flushing so that my waste would not be aerosolized and spread throughout the bathroom. Because my toilet seat was a slow close type, it soon broke from being pushed down to fast. So one… Continue reading More than a year ago… →
Susan “Mia”
Recently, at work, something changed my display name in Webex from Mia to Susan Mia. I didn’t notice until people started asking me “Is your name Susan?” and saying, “We have a new person in the meeting, welcome Susan.” In most work systems (Slack, Jira, etc.) I’m Mia. But now Webex is picking up my… Continue reading Susan “Mia” →
The Gates: Follow the Saffron Road
I first became aware of the artist Cristo in the early 1980s when he and his wife Jeanne-Claude surrounded some islands in Biscayne Bay with bright pink fabric. I thought it was ridiculous. Over the past two years I have been developing a new appreciation for modern art. I have made trips to London’s Tate… Continue reading The Gates: Follow the Saffron Road →
9/11: Ground Zero Diary
Eleven days after the destruction of the World Trade Center, a muggy September Saturday, I got up before dawn. I did it so that I could be on the subway before seven to reach the financial district before eight. Eight a.m. was the shift change at the Seaman’s Church Institute and St. Paul’s Chapel, the… Continue reading 9/11: Ground Zero Diary →
Evidence of a Shrinking World
I don’t believe I know an exceptionally large number of people, but I meet them in airports with uncanny regularity. Scene One A number of years ago I was traveling with a co-worker from New York to Washington, D.C. for a press check. While we waited to board at the shuttle terminal at La Guardia,… Continue reading Evidence of a Shrinking World →
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