It’s Thursday morning, the first day of 2015. It seems that last time I looked I was forced to read George Orwell’s 1984 and thought “wow, I wonder what things will look like so far in the future. I wonder if we’ll have flying cars?”
Well, perhaps that’s a bit of an exaggeration as I wasn’t so naive to think that we’d have flying cars. EVERYONE certainly knew that we wouldn’t have them until at least the New Millennium. Hmm… No wait, we’re there now and I don’t see one of those on my radar.
Speaking of radar, (nice segue Bob) one thing that I never expected to have was just that, radar. Yes, like everyone else, I too take technology for granted but WOW, radar. The smallest boats of today have technology that the most powerful navy in the world could only dream of in WWII. And, I won’t even talk about cell phones. Maxwell Smart would have loved hiding behind a bush talking into an iPhone. “Can you hear me now?” 
I have absolutely no idea where I was going with all that. Never mind.
Perhaps the most amazing thing to me is that I sit here on New Year’s Day, on our way south to spend the winter in Florida and the Bahamas. Yes, I know that I have said that I don’t know if we will make it to the Bahamas this winter, but heck, spring is months away. And, as Brenda has often said, “Bob and the dog, ever hopeful”. “Can I have a cookie?” “Sure Bob, here you go.”
Speaking of puppies, Brenda has recently been telling folks that she feels like she lives with a puppy. Yes, that’s me. Always jumping around with lots of smiles and drooling. Well, that’s what I do most of the time anyway. I do have “my moments” when I am less puppy-like. Well, occasionally…
I guess it’s only natural to look back when you begin a new year. Unfortunately, I’d have to dig pretty deep to come up with some photos from the “olden days”, but I do have a few that really bring back some memories.
Here’s me and Brenda leaving our wedding reception. Love the polyester sport coat. 1977 seems like a very long time ago. 
A few years later we bought our first boat, a little 20′ Cape Cod sailboat. Then, a half dozen years later we acquired Sappho, a 22′ Marshall Catboat. This boat, now some 40 years old, is owned by a good friend of mine, Eric, that keeps her in perfect shape in Wickford RI. Brenda posed for a shot on board Sappho a few years ago. It’s been a long time since those years cruising Long Island Sound on a 22′ boat with “sitting headroom”. 
Years later we owed a Tartan 37, our first “modern” boat. She was great looking but still a 70’s vintage design. 
Then we moved up to the “big times” and purchased Pandora. Here she is in Wickford RI in Sappho’s neighborhood. 
It’s hard to keep track of how quickly the years have gone by as it seems only yesterday that we were just kids in high school. Well, this photo is of us a few years after graduation, but not that many. 
It’s hard to believe how much has happened in the last 40+ years that Brenda and I have been together. From spying her in the high school library to spending the winters sailing in warm waters.
Perhaps if Brenda had known what the future was going to hold if she hung around with me she might have said, “It’s nice to meet you but I really have to study for tomorrows exam in Mrs. Hand’s English class and I can’t talk now. Bye!” Glad she didn’t.
Yup, I have been a lucky guy. Very lucky indeed.
So far, so good. That’s my story and I am sticking to it.
Here’s to a terrific 2015. Yahoo!