A Love for Art

Life on the Boat I Have Made of Mutilated Dreams

Today I have no sails to trim. So I'm just taking down the main.The storm is over now. The constant change of the world includes this moment where for a time everything is still. Time to take a breath, time to dream, time to check your gear and see if you lost anything. Life is a mystic sailing sailing trip on a boat of mutilated dreams.

No need to take a bearing now. My sextant lays idle down below. The winds have stopped today and I have some time to play with my soul. Eat and sleep, these things are easy now. Now I have no more sails to trim. I can sun myself and lookout at the clear blue sky. I can even get off this ship and swim awhile. But these calm times are bitter sweet. You can't go where your dreams want to take you, but everything else your free to do.

The storm makes it so hard to plot your course. No time to go below and search your maps. But they are useless anyway for no landmarks can you see on the water ill at ease. Hold on. Take down the main and pray. Pray you'll miss those rocks. Pray the lightkeeper has not fallen asleep. Trust your home will take you there. Believe that there are times when you are not in control. Thunder booms along the water echoing only in your soul. But those are not all the days. It's rare for it to be calm too long. You can outlast the storm. And all the times in between you get to live your life.

The wind picks up. You can see her dance on the water and you head for that spot. Slowly lurching ropes and sail to set. Your sails luffing your almost there and yes the ropes pull tight! Did I tie all my knots? Check them quickly. They are your safety here on the sea. Movement. Now you've got it almost. Now that your on the go, you have to trust the wind a little. You go down below. Get your compass. Get your sextant. Find out just where you are. Take a bearing. Then another one. Two points of reference and you are almost there. Now you just need to know two things. You find your direction. Which way do you want to go? And then from where you've just been and where you want to go you can finally plot your course.

But your not done. There is no strait road from here to there. There are no roads when your on a boat. Tack and jive, tack and jive, and tack and jive some more. Criss crossing to where you want to go. Watch the boom go back and forth as you make your way and sail away. Give and take some slack. The sun rises high. Sweat beads on your brow and on your back. It's a labour of love this life and on you go. A beautiful day of sailing, and oh and the wind blows strong! One day it will blow your way. And you watch your speed climbing taking you faster to your destiny.

Life here gets exciting, your no longer moving slowly but cutting across the waters. The ropes are so tight. Crank and crank your mizzen mast. it hurts your home to go this fast. But your flying. Your flying to where you want to go. Let your hand drape over the stern feel the cool water. You are master of your fate here you are the captain of your soul. Life will take you anywhere.

At night after a hard day on the boat, the hunger and thirst the celebration. We are almost there. Make some coffee. Read awhile. Pass the time happily because tomorrow might just be the same. And in your dreams your moving still. The rise and fall of the water outside. Here the sea is holding you. Like a lover beside you breathing, lulling you to sleep. And you can step outside and thank her. But out there is only more. The stars the moon how those sailors first plotted there farthest journeys. They are all still there.

Some days you didn't do enough. The ropes weren't checked and the wind got away. You have to tack and jive too many times. You way is not set. You have to work so hard. So hard and you don't get far. There is almost always a wind. And yes it's taking me there. But you forgot to take your bearing. You went off course. Oh I'm not getting to where I want to go today. Maybe I'll just pull ashore. Find something else to do. It can't always be this hard. And you can enjoy those days too.

For mountains we climbed when the sky was against us. And off in the hills a stranger is playing a tune. It's something you never heard before. It is somewhere you didn't expect to go. And you didn't even know you needed this break. It can't rain all the time. There are flowers here to stop and smell. Life is hard but also it is all well. You pay the harbor master and go out on your way.

Maybe from what you learned of hospitality on your road when you needed help and to know that you are not all alone. Meeting others who knew it was that day just to hard you might decide that you want to restart. And you head out again and maybe you'll go see what that man was singing about across the way. You might just wonder if what your working for is really a priority. Everyone is going somewhere. Who knows where.

And in the end the place I'm trying to get to is just my life as I see it here. For there is one more thing about the boat. You have to live, to live it, and I can't paint it here. There is one more place your dream life can take you. There are not the words to describe the meaning of your life. But I've seen it and it's as real as anything the reason we are all alive. We can all believe it, and get there upon the ark I have here made of mutilated dreams. .

Park Lafontaine with Aremis
SO I quickly throw a chicken into an herb mustard marinade and head off with Aremis to Park Lafontaine. After the strong winds of the past few days, there are tree branches everywhere, which Aremis(a lab/golden retriever cross) loves to spend hours gnawing on. I'm sitting there drawing and Aremis is on the banks of the man-made lake, splashing around, gnawing on trees, and wailing all the while. It's a sunny and beautiful autumn day, and people are sunning themselves across the way. Next thing you know, three models appear with a photographer. Two georgeous woman and an equally studly guy. One of the women is in a white fur hat and braless, and the high cheekboned dude looks like daniel day lewis. The cool breeze and sweet light end up being a perfect backdrop for both the photoshoot, and the drawing. I finish the drawing, pick up one more pile of steaming dogshit, and head back home to what will lead to a delicious BBQ. Vive la Montreal!