#HAWMC day 14 (almost half-way there!) – the prompt we’re given is “describe your ideal day – how would you spend your time? Who would be with you? Have you ever had this day?
There are two versions.
#1: perfect day, vacation version
I wake up to early-morning light coming through the forward hatch on the sailboat I’ve been spending time on, island-hopping in the south Pacific. I stretch, smell brewing coffee … and is that fish on the grill? I roll out of the berth and head to the salon/galley. Yep, there’s coffee, and I see my lover’s legs through the companionway. He’s grilling a fish he caught after he got up a few minutes ago – a wahoo.
Wahoo, indeed!
We’ve got a day ahead of us. After breakfast, and a short tour back in the berth – why not, we’re alive, let’s celebrate, right? – we prep the dinghy with our dive gear, suit up in light skins, and head to the reefs close by. We dive for about an hour, finding Nemo all over the damn place, along with plenty of his friends.
We head back to the boat, shower off, dress in our best t-shirts/shorts/flip-flops, and hop back in the dink to head around the point to town. We rinse off our gear at the town dock, hang at the dockside bar for a bit of lunch, and make some plans with other boat-buddies for dinner that night. We head back to the boat, leave our dink tied to our mooring, and head out for a couple hours of sailing exercise – for us, and for the boat.
We’re back at the mooring late afternoon. We stow the dive gear that has been drying in the dink, shower, and dress for dinner in town – which involves fresh shorts for him with a great Hawaiian shirt, a sarong dress for me, and we’re both in our very best flip-flops. The leather ones.
We head back around the point to town, hook up with our buddies – a few of whom were fun-race competitors earlier in the afternoon while we were exercising our canvas – and sit in a waterside watering hole to watch the sun go down. Then it’s a walk to the best restaurant in town, where we eat, tell stories, laugh, and generally have more fun than anyone would think possible.
After dinner, we hit a beach hut that’s rumored to have a great band. It does. We dance and sing until we’re played out, after which we motor the dink back to the boat for a long, salty, flavorful playtime in the berth. And then the sleep of the just, ’cause the next day we’re setting off for a three-day passage to the next set of lovely islands …
#2: perfect day, professional version
I wake up in a hotel room with a great view. My lover, who’s traveling with me, sleeps beside me, and I slip out of bed to start the coffee. When it’s ready, I wake him up with a cup and we snuggle in for a few minutes to talk over the day. I’m speaking at a major international conference that afternoon, and I want to run through my prep with someone I trust – and he’s that someone.
We take our time getting ready, since the first event I’m scheduled to appear at is the event’s lunch. We make our way to the convention center, and into the main ballroom. We’ll be having lunch there with another 5,000 people attending the conference – which is only 30% of the number who will attend my presentation that kicks off the awards celebration cocktails and dinner later in the day. That’s got a sell-out crowd of 16,000.
After lunch, I walk the convention center – talking to attendees, taking in the atmosphere, picking up observations that I’ll fold into my talk in a few hours. An hour before my scheduled intro time, I head for the dressing room where I’ve stowed my “show clothes”. I change, my best guy talks me through my butterflies and preps me for my 60 minutes on the platform.
We head to the hall where the 16,000 have gathered for the big show/party. I’m introduced, and for the next hour, I hold 16,000 people in the palm of my hand – they laugh, they nod, they clap, they gasp, all when I want them to. I close, and get a standing O.
Cocktails start to circulate, dinner follows, we all applaud as members of the organization are recognized for achievements, for dedication, for service.
I dance with my best love, and as the event dies down, we head back to the hotel. Nothing settles a person for sleep better than sex, does it?
Amen to that.
Have either of those days happened? In parts, yes. A current goal to have both of them happen, in full. Stay tuned …
