Bittersweet Summer

Crew of the 2012 F/V Mystic Lady
and one little honorary crew member.

Every year the Pacific Northwesterners suffer through endless months of rain and gray skies, patiently waiting for our few summer months of perfection. I've had the opportunity to travel around most of our country and I can positively confirm that our summers here are the best. And yes, I am biased. So you can imagine the cruel irony of being married to a commercial fisherman who has not (and will not) spent a single summer at home since the age of 13 when he first began his fishing career in the Alaska waters. No summer family barbecues, picnics, parties, vacations or general merriment and relishing of the best time of year. Summers mark the beginning of my 'seasonal single parenthood' and seriously boring evenings at home alone after the young sprout hits the sack. It is infrequent phone calls from remote areas of Alaska, being the role of both Mommy and Daddy, no sex (well, it's true), exhaustion, loneliness, worry for my husband's safety (commercial fishing continues to top the list of the country's most dangerous jobs), and mostly the adjustment to having a part of me missing until he returns in September. The day he leaves in June, we stand at the mouth of the harbor and watch his boat head north. When he rounds the point and his boat is no longer in sight, Jacob and I make the short drive back to our house. That usually gives me enough time for a moment of sadness and a quick cry. The first few nights are always restless as I adjust to sleeping alone and to my irrational fears of break-ins and natural disasters. I usually spend a lot of my late night hours plotting our escape routes.

A sweet goodbye between father and son.

Now that I have made each and every one of you feel really badly for me and quite possibly depressed, let me tell you about the silver lining. I can watch whatever I want on TV including but not limited to: Real Housewives of anywhere, The Bachelorette, and anything on Lifetime which is usually banned from our airwaves. My house can be as dirty clean as I want and no one is around to judge me for laying on my couch rather than doing the dishes. I don't have to wear make-up or do my hair or wear any uncomfortable underwear for the sake of looking cute. And other than caring for Jacob, I am able to really focus on myself and indulge in my own hobbies and activities that I usually feel too busy for during the rest of the year. I've learned that it helps to set a goal for myself such as training for a 10k, start a garden, plan a wedding, or work on my writing. This year, Jacob and I have made an alphabet list of things to do. For example, for the letter A - ride in an airplane. C- visit a castle. G- ride in a gondola.  Z-visit the zoo. You get the idea. So far, we have already crossed 'Z' off our list. Now if anyone out there knows of a castle near by, let me know!