A Novel Creation www.WatersWords.com: In Pursuit of...Life

In Pursuit of…Life

If you follow my blog you know that after eight years of widowhood, I recently remarried. I am now Mrs. Michael Tyler. And yes, I changed my name. (If you missed that post you can find it HERE.)

Mike and I traveled to Islamorada in the Florida Keys for our honeymoon. It was perfect. We took his bay boat out to a sandbar three days in a row. Each day offered a new and wonder-filled experience.

Our Sweet Blue Bay Boat!

Those three days on the ocean, we enjoyed the water with the radio playing music from a bygone era. The water at that point is only a few feet deep. We could easily see the sandy bottom. We spied a variety of fish swimming by and spotted a few stingrays gliding like watery kites just beneath the surface. A school of dolphins entertained us with their graceful synchronized maneuvers.

Hungry, we made our way to Manny Pincho’s floating sandwich “food truck” with a full menu of items. We waited while Manny ducked inside to grill our cheeseburgers, then ate before making our way back to our sweet blue boat. Puffer fish and needlefish scattered as we walked to our rig.

There is a capsized boat near the place where we weighed anchor each day. The colorful wood vessel recently transported refugees purported to have escaped Cuba. Though the coast guard found no passengers near the craft, no bodies were found either. Some speculate the people swam ashore while others suggest there could have been boaters nearby, who, sympathetic to the pursuit of freedom, offered transport.

The recently abandoned refugee boat.

My writer’s mind went to the stories that boat could tell. I imagined the anticipation mingled with fear as the passengers left by the cloak of night and made their way into the dark unknown.

Were there children on board? Could there have been a woman my age? What did they eat?

It looked to be a sailboat with no sail. Only an abandoned mast. Did they have a motor or did they work together at long oars…praying all the while they would be strong enough and the oars long enough to reach America.

Perhaps the refugees were all young… a bevy of brave men and women anxious to start a new life. I can imagine that.

Mike and I have started a new life as well. Not with fear, but certainly with great anticipation. Our boat is sound. Our destination is within reach.

It struck me as we waded along the sandbar, we were under the ever-watchful eye of the grounded ship.

Some may think it haunting, but our daily passage near that broken vessel didn’t dampen my spirits at all. It actually buoyed them. It reminded me to embrace every experience I’m afforded as an American.

It is easy for me to take all I have for granted. I’ve never had to seek freedom. I’ve never had to live in fear. I’ve never had to leave my family, friends, and home with virtually nothing but a few morsels of food and the dream for a better life.

Another refugee boat on display near a local restaurant.
Note the barrels to use like pontoons.

Yes, Mike and I are on a new and exciting journey. One with a bright future.

I’m posting a few pictures from our honeymoon at the Kon-Tiki Resort. Relax and enjoy the view…then say a prayer of thanks for all the blessings we have on our side of life’s journey.