Last evening we watched “True Spirit” about Jessica Watson, an Australian teen who sailed around the world in a 30-foot yacht. This morning I went online to research some of the details of the account and, not wanting this to be a spoiler alert, I will simply share this reply to the inquiry of how true-to-life the film was:
There’s some “movie magic,” but True Spirit is “scarily accurate” to what she experienced on her journey, she said. In another Instagram, Jessica posted a video clip from the trailer and explains that “some of @teagancroft’s lines ring so true to me today – it’s a little unnerving in a lovely way.”
Watching was a bit more personal to John and me given Stacey and Doug setting sail on The Lady Gail in October of 2019. The pandemic stopped them in their tracks, and they sold their beloved boat in Florida, bought a truck, and drove back to Tennessee.
Not all journeys go where we expected to go, go the way we planned, nor end the way we dreamed.
On the last side street of my normal morning bike ride yesterday morning I had a wonderful but unexpected bird encounter. The first thing I saw was a fairly large bird flying with an impressive-looking branch/twig. It was obviously building material for a nest. The bird landed in the center of an empty lot. I thought it might be a juvenile Great Blue Heron, but a closer look revealed it to be a Night Heron.
I watched the Heron fly into a nearby tree and excitedly present the prized material to a companion. Rebuffed briskly, the Heron was daunted but not dissuaded. Still holding onto the precious branch, it landed on a lower branch before ever-so-gently trying again to present its gift. Success! This time the branch was inspected, accepted, and the pair began working together to weave it into what appeared from the ground to be quite humble beginnings of a home.
Parking my bike, I stood there quite still for a long time just taking it all in. Although the lighting was not helpful, I was able to get a short video and a couple of still shots of the couple. I had spotted another Night Heron a bit higher and off to the left in the tree. Then I noticed a second pair of Herons slightly below and to the right of the pair I had been observing. (This morning’s internet facts: Night Herons likely mate for life, are thought to be monogamous, and form small colonies where both the male and female work in nest building, taking turns sitting on the eggs, and co-parenting the chicks.)
Very few trees of much size survived Hurricane Ian so this may not have been a normal nesting tree for Night Herons, but they were obviously making the most of what was available to them.
This could all be said about my life. I had not set out to be a teen-aged bride or a mom at 16 — the same age as Jessica Watson. While I did not sail around the world in a 30-foot yacht, we have certainly weathered many storms, and our marriage has proved to be a worthy vessel. Fifty-seven years ago today, March 19, 1966, John Basham and Debbie Smith said “I do.” Here is a happy 57th anniversary haiku:
John, I loved you then
And I would still say I do
I am proud of us
We took what we had
Made the most of all of it
We are still sailing!
Spring always follows
winter which leads to summer
Fall is harvest time
What more may unfold?
Final chapters not yet done
And here we both are
Still crazy after all these years!!!!
This is our true spirit!
