Weather Helmed

It’s been very windy here today and when I went up on deck this afternoon, I was struck by how loud it was – lines banging against masts, tarps flapping, boats creaking as they strained against their dock lines, wind whistling through the marina…  One of the hardest things to get used to with sailing, I think, IS how loud it can be, even when you are doing the most benign action.  Sails wildly flopping, sheets (ropes) banging on the deck, shackles and blocks clanking, and that’s just when you’re turning the boat left to right.  As I stood in the cockpit noting all of this, I thought, “The wind sounds and feels so much scarier than it really is.”  And it occurred to me that life, too, is like that sometimes.