Thursday, September 27, 2018

Mutability


Date: Sept 22, 2018 
Trip #17 (#37)
Weather: Sunny, then overcast (very overcast), then sunny again 
Waters: Slightly choppy just outside the marina and on the way to the anchor point, but calm after dropping anchor north of the SAF firing range 
On board: C, A, J1, J2, R and Pudding 


The following pictures say it all about the fickleness of the weather on this outing, our first since The Big Move to our new home in Siglap. (Since then, it's been six weeks of dealing with the interior designer and the developer for the various fixings needed around the house. Truly, one never knows what needs to be done around the place until one moves in and starts living there.)


Time: Around 1pm, searingly hot, just off Raffles Marina. 

Time: Around 3pm, north of the SAF firing range. Beautiful storm light. 

Time: 5pm, back at the marina. Blue skies. 

The mutability of the weather was kind of surprising on this Saturday. Heavy thunderstorms had been predicted for the afternoon, so at first we canned the idea of going out in the boat. But the day dawned bright and clear, so the plan was back on. It was still sunny as we got underway; the heat was so searing that everyone applied sunblock with some diligence (except for C, who thinks himself immune from UVA/UVB).

It has been about three months (THREE!) since our last outing, and Pudding seemed to have forgotten the business of boating. He was restless as the engine roared, either because he was freaked out or because of the heat or both. 

After we berthed at our usual spot just south of the fish farms, the grey skies swept in, and brought with them the tiniest drizzle. Nobody moved to go below deck; I don't think anyone even thought of the possibility of the boat being tossed like a cork in a rainstorm. J2 put on his raincoat, but realised it wasn't worth how hot he was feeling under it. The light was all grey and yet orangey; it was dark and yet quite bright, this storm light.



We stayed put, calmed by the silence of the waters, the silence broken by our choice of music, washed down with beers. This is our Saturday oasis, one that we never tire of coming to.

We hoisted the anchor at around 5pm, partly because A had forgotten to bring along Pudding's lunch, and everyone figured it would be around 7pm before he would get his first meal since breakfast. A felt #contrition, though J1 said that as the dog gets nearer his first birthday, he should be getting used to having fewer meals a day anyway. We plied him with more treats than usual to make up for the oversight. The things we do for this dawg.

The drizzle blew over soon enough and we cruised back to the marina in bright 5pm light. It was as if the threatened bad weather was never there at all as we went through the post-outing ablutions.

Mutability, change. This family has been buffeted by it in a big way this past year, and I think we seem to have come through it with some grace, despite it having been change that was unsought. But we are finding our own new level after it and maybe even liking it, though, on a day-to-day basis, some of us still find comfort in doing things the old way.

Yes, one has to look back, sometimes. Pic by J1.  

We don't want to forget our old home, and so have brought along with us some pieces of furniture, some knick knacks, to remind us from whence we came. We have these things to tie us to the past, but we also need to look forward, all of us ...

... both the young... 

... and the not-so-young. 



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