Tired of the Snow? Read this.

I thought I'd rub this in your face.

For the past six months every Saturday more or less, I have taken my sixth grader to Galveston for sail training. From 9 to 4 I sit in Starbucks and have this view while I read or do math. And that is a silhouette of my husband "working from home." Horrible working conditions but somebody's got to do it---(you'll get your chance to gloat when they transfer us to Green Bay, WI.) The masts you see in the background are of the ship on which my son will be sailing.

To the left of the tall ship in the above photo there is a restaurant that overlooks the museum's harbor. We ate lunch frequently and had this view off the balcony in the back.


If you could look more to the left (east, the harbor for the ship is on the backside, or northside of the island facing the Texas coast)...you'd see the less picturesque Haliburton, as well as that 'tiny' wooden life boat from the above pic now out on the water and full of people who are practicing...something:

So tonight we drop off the kid and tomorrow he will help sail that ship with a crew of about 20 other boys and plenty of adult supervision. The weather for tomorrow is supposed to be perfect. Sunshine with temps in the 60's and a fresh breeze (that's winds of about 20-25 mph) are predicted. Handling 12,000 square feet of sail with that kind of wind out to be an experience!

There is web page which features a live cam of the ship. I tried to link to it directly to just the cam from my blog but I can't figure out how to do it. It looks like they've already moved her from her berth to the end of the wharf in preparation for tomorrow and the gigantic white cruise ship in the background is Carnival Cruise Line's Ecstasy. Check in around 8:00 am, 12:00 pm, and late afternoon Monday and you should see a lot of action.

If you are more or less in the Houston area and have a child between the ages of 11-17, they can participate in the program for free. Email me and I'll hook you up with the details--next year's training starts in September. Math and pirate drinking songs with Myrtle, the Charles Dickens festival, and Mardi Gras are optional and not part of the official program.

hocklemeier@yahoo.com