fenixroyale
May 18th, 2006, 8:51 am
G'morning. Thought you might enjoy my debut column from Houseboat Magazine, came out in May. The magazine has rights of first publication, after that I can do what I want to with the articles, and with this one, I wanted to share it here. Had to introduce myself and the column in this piece. Called "Notes from the Stern," and the article explains why.
BT
*****************************************************
The Value of the View Behind
By Ted A. Thompson
We don’t know each other. Let’s remedy that straightaway.
Hello, my name is Ted Thompson, and I’m pleased to meet you.
It is my hope you’ll discover that the stories we share in this column, these “Notes from the Stern” as we call them, are about the whole of our lives, not just the part that goes boating.
Here you will find stories and observations that actually touch you and your life, and are not just a reflection of my own. We will look down, and see our feet firmly planted. We will look up, and count our lucky stars. We will look around, and see what’s funny and interesting about the world.
Anytime I can help you find a smile or a laugh, or give you a reason to pause and reflect, then what I have written is about your life as well as mine.
So why “Notes From the Stern?” We gave that some thought.
The bow is the place for goals and dreams. The bow is where destinations come into focus, where expectation becomes reality, where effort becomes success. From the bow we see where our lives are going.
But it is in the wake of our existence that the best stories are found. We look backwards to see the friends we have made. The lessons we have learned. The memories we have created. These are our Notes from the Stern.
(In the interest of honesty, it must also be said that this column is titled, “Notes from the Stern” because it is always found at the very back of the magazine. Our editor is clever that way.)
As time goes by you’ll meet Roxanne, my beautiful wife of 34 years, a Special Education teacher whose insights always amaze me. I’m convinced we have been together so long because we are such an unlikely pair -- Roxanne keeps my feet on the ground, I keep her head in the clouds. Perfect. A mismatch made in Heaven.
You’ll probably get to know Sugar, the jet-skiing dog, our ferociously friendly Jack Russell Terrorist. The wonderful thing about Sugar is that she never meddles with the truth. Her responses are purely honest. Dogs can get away with that.
We humans, however, have a healthy need to stretch our imaginations. When it comes to chronicling the stories of our lives with a chuckle or a smile or a grin – or sometimes with a sigh or a tear -- that’s part of my job. We experience a full spectrum of feelings, a rainbow of color in the events of our lives, and I write about them all.
But I’m not above embellishment, and occasionally you might catch me harmlessly re-coloring rainbows. I’m not as purely honest as my dog, but I’ll never purposefully mislead you.
Sometimes I’ll even yank your chain, just for fun.
Please note I pointedly did not refer to yanking your “anchor line” for the sake of contriving a nautical association. The way I see it, by the time you get here you’ve had a magazine full of that already -- boating articles, boating pictures, boating opportunities. In fact, some months in this column you may not find a single reference to boats, water or anything nautical.
Still, no doubt from time to time we’ll visit the Phoenix, our reconditioned Sea Master Houseboat, the source of great joy in our lives, and the final disposition of much of our money. Like most new boat owners, when we bought the Phoenix and began restoring her, no one explained how much it would cost. But there were other more important things they didn’t explain.
No one mentioned, for example, that boating helps cement new friendships and restore old ones. Or that barbecue, prepared in a boat on the lake and eaten from paper plates, can taste better than porterhouse served on fine china. That swimming off a boat in open water is immensely more pleasurable than straddling a foam noodle in a concrete pool. That a cool lake breeze sweeping across the deck refreshes the spirit as well as the body -- something no air conditioner can do.
These greater truths about boating we discovered for ourselves, and are still discovering.
So, welcome to Notes from the Stern, my new friends. If you enjoy this column, please feel free to drop an email and let me know. Who doesn’t appreciate a friendly note and a complimentary word?
If by chance you read something here that you do not like, however, then please send me brownies. Preferably with walnuts. The wonderful aroma of baking will soothe your pain, and I will feel great, too.
Because no batch of brownies ever hurt my feelings.
Until next month,
My Best From the Stern
Ted A. Thompson
Ted Thompson is a freelance writer
living in North Arkansas. He can be
contacted at tedthompson@alltel.net (tedthompson@alltel.net)
BT
*****************************************************
The Value of the View Behind
By Ted A. Thompson
We don’t know each other. Let’s remedy that straightaway.
Hello, my name is Ted Thompson, and I’m pleased to meet you.
It is my hope you’ll discover that the stories we share in this column, these “Notes from the Stern” as we call them, are about the whole of our lives, not just the part that goes boating.
Here you will find stories and observations that actually touch you and your life, and are not just a reflection of my own. We will look down, and see our feet firmly planted. We will look up, and count our lucky stars. We will look around, and see what’s funny and interesting about the world.
Anytime I can help you find a smile or a laugh, or give you a reason to pause and reflect, then what I have written is about your life as well as mine.
So why “Notes From the Stern?” We gave that some thought.
The bow is the place for goals and dreams. The bow is where destinations come into focus, where expectation becomes reality, where effort becomes success. From the bow we see where our lives are going.
But it is in the wake of our existence that the best stories are found. We look backwards to see the friends we have made. The lessons we have learned. The memories we have created. These are our Notes from the Stern.
(In the interest of honesty, it must also be said that this column is titled, “Notes from the Stern” because it is always found at the very back of the magazine. Our editor is clever that way.)
As time goes by you’ll meet Roxanne, my beautiful wife of 34 years, a Special Education teacher whose insights always amaze me. I’m convinced we have been together so long because we are such an unlikely pair -- Roxanne keeps my feet on the ground, I keep her head in the clouds. Perfect. A mismatch made in Heaven.
You’ll probably get to know Sugar, the jet-skiing dog, our ferociously friendly Jack Russell Terrorist. The wonderful thing about Sugar is that she never meddles with the truth. Her responses are purely honest. Dogs can get away with that.
We humans, however, have a healthy need to stretch our imaginations. When it comes to chronicling the stories of our lives with a chuckle or a smile or a grin – or sometimes with a sigh or a tear -- that’s part of my job. We experience a full spectrum of feelings, a rainbow of color in the events of our lives, and I write about them all.
But I’m not above embellishment, and occasionally you might catch me harmlessly re-coloring rainbows. I’m not as purely honest as my dog, but I’ll never purposefully mislead you.
Sometimes I’ll even yank your chain, just for fun.
Please note I pointedly did not refer to yanking your “anchor line” for the sake of contriving a nautical association. The way I see it, by the time you get here you’ve had a magazine full of that already -- boating articles, boating pictures, boating opportunities. In fact, some months in this column you may not find a single reference to boats, water or anything nautical.
Still, no doubt from time to time we’ll visit the Phoenix, our reconditioned Sea Master Houseboat, the source of great joy in our lives, and the final disposition of much of our money. Like most new boat owners, when we bought the Phoenix and began restoring her, no one explained how much it would cost. But there were other more important things they didn’t explain.
No one mentioned, for example, that boating helps cement new friendships and restore old ones. Or that barbecue, prepared in a boat on the lake and eaten from paper plates, can taste better than porterhouse served on fine china. That swimming off a boat in open water is immensely more pleasurable than straddling a foam noodle in a concrete pool. That a cool lake breeze sweeping across the deck refreshes the spirit as well as the body -- something no air conditioner can do.
These greater truths about boating we discovered for ourselves, and are still discovering.
So, welcome to Notes from the Stern, my new friends. If you enjoy this column, please feel free to drop an email and let me know. Who doesn’t appreciate a friendly note and a complimentary word?
If by chance you read something here that you do not like, however, then please send me brownies. Preferably with walnuts. The wonderful aroma of baking will soothe your pain, and I will feel great, too.
Because no batch of brownies ever hurt my feelings.
Until next month,
My Best From the Stern
Ted A. Thompson
Ted Thompson is a freelance writer
living in North Arkansas. He can be
contacted at tedthompson@alltel.net (tedthompson@alltel.net)