On Coming Fall

Now that Hurricane turned Tropical Storm Irene has left the region a premature autumn has set in around the Cape. The timing is simply perfect as Labor Day weekend is the traditional end of the Summer season here. Commercial ventures dependent on the Summer season are grinding to a reluctant close, as our commercial fishing fleet turns their eyes to another brutal winter among the waves and whitecaps of the north Atlantic. And I begin my plans toward a future on the highways and byways of this wonderful country of ours.

In preparation I have withdrawn from classes at Cape Cod Community College for the foreseeable future. That is, of course, not to say that I will never go back, but for now the needs of my family outweigh the needs of my schooling. This will also give me the time to decide what to do as a long term career in the second half of this life. Change is coming, I merely hope for the better.

I will miss my compadres and those that make working at Hyannis Harbor something of an adventure. And I am certain that my family will miss me while I am working behind the wheel of an 80,000 pound behemoth cruising the continent. But I have decided that I simply can't afford to go through another fall and winter like this past one ... both personally and financially. I haven't got it in me.

While I would love the chance to stay local, driving a truck (as a rookie driver) tends to take one elsewhere for months at a time in the beginning. The nights will be dark and lonely as they were before. But just knowing that I won't be staring into the maw of my third month without a paycheck makes me feel better about it. It's what I have to do, and to be honest I'm looking forward to it. And, I'm good at it.

As I walk the bulkhead, keeping an eye on the harbor, I watch Than the pirate entertain the kids and I have hope for the future. Their eyes light up as he makes his pitch for new hands to run his ship, and they follow him gladly knowing that adventure is at hand. If I can manage to look at my new opportunities with the same passions I will do fine. And then, maybe someday, I too will create my own job ... doing what I love most. But, until that day I will persevere and drive on into the night that looms ... weather the wind blows or the snow falls ... I will prevail because I am ... and I live free.