| From: Bob Kraska [mailto:bkraska@mgtaylor.com] Sent: Sunday, February 13, 2000 9:16 AM To: Butch Rice; Todd Johnston; Alicia Bramlett; Ann Badillo; Bill Blackburn; Bill Kincaid; 'Bob Kraska'; Bonnie Gibson; Darney T Standfield; Dean Rutley; Derek Stobaugh; 'Gail Taylor'; Jeffrey C Johnston; jessy Smith; John Kraska; Julia Eatmon; 'kahoe@aol. com'; Kathleen L Pringle; Lisa Piazza; Lori Bergeron; 'Mary Molina'; Matt Taylor; Michael J Kraska; mike hinebrook; Patsy Kahoe; Rich Peterson; Robert Darling; Schoonover Todd; Susan Hollobaugh; Pat Gibson Subject: my weekend on Camelot I am sitting in my favorite chair, in my home in Kalamazoo. The chair, together with the ottoman, makes a perfect laptop work station. While focusing on my screen, I can also feel the outside through the sliding door to my left, and the coziness that the fireplace represents beyond that. The colors of the room are deep browns, greens, and reds. Snow is falling, the sky is gray, the trees are bare... squirrels run around the deck and yard... It's such a different spot from where I was last Sunday - anchored in a small island cove across the way from Useppa island - somewhere near Fort Meyers, Florida. We set off on Friday around 2pm toward a place called Picnic Island, which was going to be our resting place for the evening. Motoring through the channel quickly took my mind out of my Detroit-centric world, into some other place - a commencement of another journey. I have always loved this feeling - not knowing what will happen next, but knowing that "something" will... We had a nice lasagna dinner that night, had a few glasses of wine, bundled up as it started to get cooler, and sat up on deck as the stars became our company. The stars always fascinate me... no matter where you are in space and time... the upper peninsula of Michigan, atop Mt. Fuji, Half Moon Bay, along the Volga River, Picnic Island, FL... on a clear night, the stars are your only constant. Generally, the same ones come out, the Big Dipper fills the night sky. Though, everything else in your environment may be completely different - the people you are with, the language you speak, the vehicle you travel in, the topography, your age, etc., etc., etc. Saturday we hiked the island a bit and sat along the beach, looking at shells, as a giant Heron nested above us . . . on this beach was a single folding chair - very peculiar in this peculiar place. I joked that it looked as if it was placed in such a spot that Jesus Christ might come there to rest - and think of what next to bestow upon this heavenly planet. Sitting in the chair reminded me of sitting in the chair up at our cabin on Lake Huron... similar feel, similar connection. We continued on for Useppa that day, catching some good winds and a sail along the way... though I missed it, as I was down below sitting in the “laptop” chair writing away. There is this wonderful writing spot on the boat, just big enough for you to sit, with some shelves to the left to put your “things” and this fold down computer stand detaches from the wall. Very innovative! Once nestled, it is hard to leave - perhaps only to change the CD’s every 45 minutes. Anyhow, we made it to Useppa again by evening and this night had a wonderful chicken, rice, and snow pea dinner. Again a few glasses of wine from, yes, Camelot Vineyards :) Followed by a game of cards - which the guys won - and then we settled in and all watched the movie "Rushmore" on my Sony laptop DVD player . . . Rushmore is about this high school kid who starts numerous VENTURES and generally pushes the envelope on what it means to be young... strongly recommend to all. Sunday was a full day, starting with a trip to Useppa to walk around its pristine paths, and look at the pristine cottages and relax in its serenity. On land, sheltered from the winds, it was also much warmer. We hiked a bit, and then decided to visit an adjacent island for lunch... I can't remember the name of this island but we ate inside this little cozy bar, with a fire burning, we had some snow crab claws and fish... and generally decided that this might be a fun place to come back to at night... Butch then took us by dingy back through this marsh that lead out to the main ocean... there the beach was hot and we all walked up and down the beach a bit... then we headed back to Camelot for a rest and change of clothes before dinner. We ended up back at the cozy restaurant - had another wonderful seafood dinner... great grilled shrimp and grouper this time. Before settling into the coziness of the fire... a guy started strumming his guitar at the bar, and this soon lead into a “sing a-long” with the ten of us in the place. We all met one another, and by the end of the night had become companions in this lost journey we were all on... after a nightcap at the guitarist's boat, we headed back to the island near Camelot where Butch had us set up with a bonfire... the stars came back out and we talked away the night until our eyes shut... Monday was a day sail in light winds... then headed back to Useppa to catch the fire to mainland and a taxi to the airport... For me, “traveling” is a requirement... when I am in the “act” of it I find my most powerful moments of “clarity” - my own personal ability to step outside my life and watch it as others might. Days like Monday, then, bring back the sense of confusion - as the realities of tomorrow begin to cloud the clarity. But those moments of clarity cannot be taken away, forgotten, etc. if the experience of them is exquisite. That is why I have to find these moments on sailing vessels in Florida, on top of mountains in Colorado or Japan, in far away airports, parks, and more. The experience of Camelot, this time, was about becoming aware of choices and connections - that we all have so many wonderful choices and connections to make - where to live? whom to associate with? what work to do? how to invest your emotional, intellectual, and financial capital? I can't say that I made any “out of this world” decisions in a 3 day trip, but I can say that I increased my awareness of these things via the experience. And above all, the experience is about “beauty”... a bird flying and dancing around you, the dolphins playing, and swimming with you, on either side of the boat, the blue sky against the green trees, against the blues and greens of the oceans, against the rich, warm woods of Camelot... and there is so much that the ropes and sails and nooks and crannies and Butch and Pam and Popeye represent... for each participant something different and unique... to learn and grow and relax is the only “requirement.” Michael Crichton, the author, writes in his autobiography called “Travels” that one should travel every 4 years, in a real way, to step back and look at the lives one creates... well, these days, and in our community, this time shrinks quickly... to one year, six months, 3 weeks, everyday... I hope we all can take time, to find ways to “travel”... Cheers, Bob |
