One thing about living on a boat while taking a 6,000 pilgrimage is there is a tremendous amount of solitude. It is an indulgence of sorts to be able to spend this much time alone or away from the outward world. On the surface it takes us away from others, paradoxically, it takes us deep within and that dear readers, is a vast landscape. Recently, my bff, Wendy, sent me a text of an Emerson poem about the world behind and front of us is “tiny” compared to “what lies within us”. This familiar passage resonated with me more than ever, now, in this journey of human inwardness.

Another friend messaged this week to inquire about whether or not David and I are “bored”. My response was a simple, “No”. In fact, the more articulate response is, “We are sculpting our inner intelligence”. We do things, take walks, nap, go to dinner, work on the boat, read, talk about things, help other boaters at the dock, and things like that. However; we are practicing aloneness too and it is such a privilege to go be working our way back to something that is so natural and innate. Solitude actually has agency. Solitude is actually a verb and a form of sovereignty. It nurtures and enriches us.

It looks like our work here in Ludington is unfinished as today’s marine weather forecast is forcing us to extend our stay here by another day or even two. More gale force winds. More 4-6 foot waves. Many other “Loopers” are also stalled in their course, some here in Ludington, and the vast majority spread out along both the Michigan and Wisconsin coasts. We use an app called, NEBO, to track our time on the water and we can literally see where other cruisers are. Up and down Lake Michigan, we are all staying put, shining our light on the little towns and places where we are stopped, in this now moment. I imagine we will all be moving again, soon, simultaneously. All this solitude will serve to make us all much more grateful to be on our ways. Grateful to not be a monks too 😉

This harbor is home to the S.S. Badger- A Lake Michigan car ferry that travels across the lake to Milwaukee, WI. At least once a day, sometimes twice daily, she goes out and returns. Its horn blares one long blast to let everyone know it’s leaving the dock. The night before last it returned in a strong wind and had a helluva time getting up to the dock. David and I watched in aweness as the captain turned that ship around, literally, lined it up again, then cranked on the thrusters to bring it to port. It was pretty exciting. Friday nights on IRENE, LOL.

In Other News…

If you’ve been following Betheship, you know that we have had unidentified, ongoing issues with our generator. Lots of great folks have worked on it, Leo on Jekyll Island, Mike and Sean at Brewerton Boat Yard, Nathan Delke in Roger’s City. They all helped some. Update, we finally found the actual Master of Diesel here, in Ludington. His name is Oene (pronounced oh-knee) Pomper. He owns Lake Street Marina and he is a genius. He is 6’4″ and weighs about 120 pounds. He slips down into the motor room with ease. He talks about “infinity energy” and plays with the generator and how it puts out power, and we learned so much from him. If we are ever here again, we’re going to stay at his marina and have him do a complete service on the engine. He is the master.

We continue to receive beautiful messages and “postcards” from friends and family. We appreciate the updates and photographs that reach us, from everyone in texts, emails and FaceTime calls. Social media, especially Instagram, is also a means of “seeing” people we love. Just this week, we got to see (and hear) Hollis napping with one of her puppies; the daughter of an old friend’s just born baby, Maeve; hear about Leda’s new passion for playing the recorder; see pictures of other Loopers we met earlier in the season and their travels on the Tennessee River (where we’ll be someday); and images from my sister Patty and niece, Nicole’s birthday celebrations; and much, much more. You can find me and my own posts on Instagram at xvxmom.

And finally, today marks day number 350 for me as a student in A Course In Miracles. At this point in the study, we shift to the question, “What Am I?”. Hoping this prepares me for what comes next. David and I are looking forward to crossing our wake in Florida and spending January, February and March in Marathon. We look forward to Christmas time with our family there. And, we are beginning to talk about what may be after that. We are careful about our thinking and words because we know that it’s a reflective universe and we are creating the future right now in the quantum moment because everything is equally present. In actual life, it’s a dream and the future is now too. We are energy and we are frequencies. Keep it light friends. Keep it high. Keep loving. Keep in touch.