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ANNUAL CHRISTMAS NEWS LETTER
$eason of "93"
A long winded & lyrical look at the quality frivolity in the continuing short story serial about the observations and adventures of a mans private passion with his ocean racer. 
(For maximum effectiveness and enjoyment, read newsletter at room temperature very late at night warm in bed on Christmas Eve).


Halloween's cardboard cadavers with a white backdrop of the first snowfall has passed, along with the peculiar odor of mothballs from winter coats being taken out of storage. 
23 Million people in America hibernate each year to work at home, and I'm  lucky enough to be one of them. The commute from my shower takes about 5 minutes if I stop for coffee.  It's hard to believe that we're leaping fast forward  into 1994 with chestnuts roasting in the microwave and Christmas greetings arriving on the fax machine.

YEAR IN REVIEW
70% of the earth’s surface is covered with water and a lot of water has passed under the transom since the last newsletter.   There was the wacko in Waco, it was useful to have a boat as the Mississippi River became 16 miles wide in spots, and the mudslides in California finally put out the fires.
As usual, there were unusual weather patterns that  played peek-a-boo with the sun all summer and the 300,000 boaters of Illinois.  Boating is fun, and safe boating is even more  fun.  I plan to be a walking wax museum and outlive my pompous pompadour before I'm tagged on the toe!
KITE MAN IN THE WINDY CITY
I finally took the advice of my well-meaning friends and did what they've been telling me to do for years.  Flying kites is the new hobby and I guess that's as close to sailing as I'm going to get.  I enjoy the therapy and besides the wind is free. Staring mindlessly into the sunset I realized that--I just like bright shinny objects! 
Some days I fly up to 7 Shark kites on one line.  The kites are a menacing black, the shape of a Shark, and are from 20 feet long down to 4 feet.  Truly a "school of sharks" swimming back and forth in the wind as I gaze at them with the wonderment of a kid.  Sometimes I regress so far I feel the anxiety of youth. 
I also fly a 15 sq.' Para foil (a parachute that goes up) with 250 pound test line and the list goes on.  Sometimes I fly everything in my bag at once.  The kiters call it "hanging out laundry".   (Between the "sky trash" and my loud boat-there goes the neighborhood!)
COME SEE US ROCK & ROLL
During the season my 60's nostalgia band "Greased Lightning" played about 30 dates.  Among them were Oak Fest, Willow brook Fest, Dolton Fest, Posen Fest and Nostalgia Days in Winthrop Harbor in front of a record 4,000 people for that small harbor town.
At the same time we stretched out a little and assumed another musical identity called "Eyewitness Blues" going out to work strictly blues venues; and we are getting return dates. We play from Kenosha to Kosher land and I may even take Lambada lessons to perfect my Jackie Gleason impression.
(As if flying kites, playing Rock and Roll, and going to the circus in November are not childlike enough, I'm having fun driving a white Corvette complete with "GO BOATS" plates and a radar detector.) 
DOG DAYS OF AUGUST
All time record cold on the 4th begins another cold and wet period.  But then as with all things in nature, the best is saved for last. The middle of August was sunny and hot.  It was time for king of wing to kick back with Jack.  In the middle of a double feature dream I awoke on the boat for my birthday to the sound of World War 2 fighter planes buzzing the harbor on August 20th.   These were not replicas; these were some of the actual planes!  It was as if I was in Pearl Harbor with these classic aircraft were diving on the boat.  Was this some kind of marine drill?  I could almost hear Rod Serlings eerie voice slowly saying.........Bill doesn't know it yet, but he has just entered .........The twilight zone.........
After I snapped out of it I realized they were practicing for the air show scheduled for the next day.  I considered flying 5 or 6 big kites about 3000 feet in the air show; but decided it wouldn't be a real good idea.  They might make me go to Marine Court and put me on kite probation.

Then as fate would prescribe, as quickly as it began the season ends and it's time to follow my moral compass home.  I hibernate for the endless winter, but then Indian Summer makes a last ditch effort on October 6th.  On that day I help my friend put away his 15 ton 38' Carver for the season.  We travel to Michigan City on autopilot as we lay on the bow with a cold beer and watch the Indiana Dunes go by for the seasons last warm sunshine.   It reaches 80 degrees and we procrastinate going into dock by slowing down until the boat is almost dead in the water trying to milk every last warm degree from the day.  Finally at sunset the yacht pulls into the storage marina for its last voyage of the season.  I follow on Oct 16th pulling Fast Forward out of the water for the year while frowning like a spoiled child the entire afternoon. 

Have a deliciously rich Holiday Season and a great New Year--all year.  My new years wish for you is........ may the best thing that happened to you in 1993, be the worst thing that happens to you in 1994!  Already I have impatient patience for next years boating season.
Now that we're well into the endless winter,  I practice trying to walk on icy sidewalks in 40 m.p.h. winds looking like I'm the star of the urban ice follies.  Strangely enough, I enjoy the change of seasons and all the challenges that come with it.
Everyday is a gift;  that's why we call it the present..  


CAPTAIN BILL