CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINE: RACE LIKE A DOLPHIN, SOAR LIKE A PELICAN AND GIVE UNTIL IT HURTS

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINE: RACE LIKE A DOLPHIN, SOAR LIKE A PELICAN AND GIVE UNTIL IT HURTS

We blew into Titusville, that is, a cold north wind of at least 20 mph blew Slow Motion into the Titusville City Marina today at 1 p.m., and the Admiral was told to back into a skinny Minnie slip between big old wooden pilings and next to a concrete and wood finger dock. Ho hum. The Admiral’s nerves were raw about this one. The nearly gale force wind was relentless, and as always, the visibility looking from the flying bridge back to the stern was zero. So I was on the stern shouting “more to port!” or “more to starboard!”, as the case called for it, in order to avoid smearing Slow Motion’s starboard side on the concrete. The Admiral appeared to be hearing me, as he guided all 38,000 pounds of fiberglass, metal, wood and diesel fuel back into Slip 63 without even brushing a piling or the dock. Afterwards, the dock master said he thought we were communicating with headphones, because the Admiral’s backing went so smoothly. At this point, the Admiral owned up that he didn’t hear a word I was shouting. Chalk this up to another pre-Christmas miracle – the immaculate docking. This was another harrowing experience, but the grinning manatee who came to watch as we were struggling with getting the lines looped around the pilings was clearly enjoying the show. The manatees here are huge. They’re more like sea hippos than sea cows. They just don’t compare to the porpoises/dolphins on the cuddly chart. And I have never met a manatee that didn’t want something, either food or water. They are unrepentant panhandlers, ruined by their contact with humankind.

Porpoises, on the other hand (or fin), are still free spirits who do not hang out at marinas begging for a handout. They are expert corralers and catchers of fish. They work together in teams to surround their prey and then, when a shore is near, they keep pushing the fish to shore, where the pickings are so easy – like fish in a barrel, yeah. When they are not hunting for their own food, they keep an eye out for us trawlers, and when one of us approaches, the fun begins. It’s been at least three times in the past week that one or more porpoises have spotted Slow Motion, then made a bee line for the bow of our boat and – they’re off to the races. I rush down to the bow from the flying bridge with my IPhone camera and try to capture them swimming on both sides of the bow, turning sideways to get a good look at the mammal who is whistling and singing to them (me), then leaping out of the water and diving back in, keeping pace with Slow Motion, whatever our speed. This is exhilarating every time I do it. I think they have as much fun as I do, probably more, knowing that they’re racing a giant and always staying just ahead of the giant’s body (hull). Why isn’t this sport in the Olympics? Porpoises are the bomb! Yes, I’m talking about dolphins, but once I learned about the dolphins or dolphin fish that populate the Keys and are caught and served in restaurants as mahi mahi, I thought it would be less confusing to refer to the amazing mammalian dolphins as porpoises, who should never be caught or eaten by any person, ever. I’m not sure that I like the idea of porpoises in captivity at all, especially at places like Sea World, where they perform with seals and whales to the delight of thousands. When you see them in their natural habitat, you quickly realize that Sea Worlds are anathema to the way they really live and entertain themselves.

While I’m extolling the virtues of the porpoise, I’ve also got to give a shout out to the peripatetic pelicans, who also amuse us every day we travel the waterway. They travel alone and in squadrons. I like the low flying squadrons that are doing recon for their morning fish feed. I also like the sleeping pelicans on the bridge fenders. And I especially like the pelicans who dive bomb into the water from a height of twenty feet or more. Oy veh, what a headache! We have seen whole islands teeming with pelicans in the past few days, as we have cruised from Jacksonville Beach to Titusville, Florida. And they come in different colors. The all white ones are striking, but the brown ones with white heads and under feathers are also very lovely. Whatever shade they are, pelicans have the most expressive faces, with their very long beaks and darks eyes looking down their beaks at you, as though barely tolerating their human admirers. And when they spread their wings and soar, they convey such a lightness of being. Like the eagles we have seen recently, and the great herons and egrets, pelicans explain why the Wright Brothers and other mere mortals wanted to learn to fly. Just lifting our feet out of the clay and imitating the soaring, whooshing, gliding and diving of our avian friends gives us a much deeper sense of freedom. The adrenaline rush is pretty good too.

While the rest of the country is in the grips of a severe cold front that has brought snow and ice and record low temperatures, we on Slow Motion have been relentlessly heading for warm weather. Most of the time really warm, sunny days have eluded us so far. We have battled dense fog between Hilton Head, SC and Jekyll Island, GA, and more recently we have been buffeted by strong winds, which have raised white caps on the rivers and inlets and rocked Slow Motion to the core. But sometimes, as we arrive at a protected marina, like Delegal Creek in Savannah, GA ( Dock master Lola said it was too hot to be Christmas time) or Hidden Harbor in Brunswick, GA, the wind abates and the sun surrounds us with warmth – and we are so, so happy to be in the Deep South. Purely for meteorological reasons – the politics of this part of the country is not its drawing card. Raise your hand if you have extended Medicaid to more poor citizens in your jurisdiction, as encouraged under the Affordable Care Act, -- not so fast southern states. I guess your leaders believe not only that the poor will always be with you, but also that this is a good thing, not something to ameliorate with government assistance. But do the poor also have to be unhealthy and unable to get medical care? Sooner or later a healthy rich person crosses paths with a sick poor person and spreads the diseases of the poor through the upper class. Do we really want a nation of sick people? The preamble to the Constitution says that the Founding Fathers (yes, I know, all white males and many slave owners) chose our form of democratic government “to promote the general welfare”. That’s not the welfare of generals, or even admirals, for that matter. That’s the welfare of everyone. And right now, we’re not promoting everyone’s welfare, as the rich 10 per cent commandeer 50% of all the income and assets and let it “trickle down” to their offshore bank accounts, but not to the poor in their own country who need a living wage, or just even a job.

In December most charitable organizations receive 50% of their income from donations. We are a giving populace – to a point. As individuals we respond to the bell ringing and the letters and emails from the ASPCA, Planned Parenthood (some of us, anyway), the Red Cross, any charity for poor children, and we make donations. But as a recent Op Ed writer for the NYT said, we are not giving until it hurts. We give, and we are still comfortable. We are not redistributing the wealth by any means with these modest donations. Not even Gates and Buffett and their billionaire buddies, who are giving away millions, are making much of a dent in our growing income equality. The federal government was always intended to be the Great Equalizer, not private rich people. This is not hard to grasp. Revisit the FDR years with the advent of Social Security, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the New Deal, the Civilian Conservation Corps, the minimum wage – all that was necessary equalizing “to promote the general welfare”. We were not intended to be the oligarchy we have become. We will not survive as a democracy if we continue to pursue the path of oligarchy.

So what do you say? Let’s get those unemployment benefits extended for those who lost their jobs in the Great Recession. Does Sarah Palin really think that Christ would turn his back on the poor, especially at this time of year? Let’s stimulate this economy with money for highways and other major infrastructure – new jobs, more jobs, good paying jobs. Let’s help those who are obsessed with the national debt get the therapy they need, while the rest of the country goes back to work – and surprise! The national debt will take care of itself as “all boats rise” with the rising economy. Paul Krugman won his Nobel for a reason. He’s smart, he’s sensible, and he’s right. We have to spend our way out of this recession – this is Economics 101. And what better time to start than Christmas, when we are reminded in the Gospel that a rich man will have an extremely difficult time getting into heaven. Stop amassing and start spreading the wealth, rich men. Life is short. And since you can’t get to heaven if you’re rich, you might as well start now by eliminating loopholes in the tax system and paying your fair share of taxes. That will cut into your fortunes a bit. Then join the billionaires’ Club for Giving and start pouring money into Detroit and Newark and the public education system in Mississippi. Use your imagination. Look around. You will find so many great things to do with all that wealth. And guess what? You will feel good. You will soar like the eagles and pelicans and herons. You will glide like the porpoises and dolphins. You will feel warm inside. And you will get to heaven (which, by the way, has no class system, no ranks and no preferred seating.) You might as well start rubbing elbows with poor people on earth – making their lives better, bringing them into the middle class -- as they will greatly outnumber you in heaven. Joy to the World!