Past Life Experiences...





	I spent a couple of years in my twenties living on a boat moored in the Monterey Bay. It was about half a mile from shore, and I had a little skiff I used to get me and Blue - the best dog in the whole wide world - back and forth. I worked at a restaurant on Cannery Row, which was about a mile row from the boat. Living on the boat was very similar to living on a farm back in Kansas. Wide open space and a feeling of freedom. It was better, though, because there was always a gentle rocking. Not too many neighbors, but you could depend on them when the chips were down. I remember once I took the boat on a short day trip across the bay to Santa Cruz. It was a first date with Kevin, a guy I really liked. We spent the day on the boardwalk, got to know each other, then started back just after dark. Very romantic. An almost perfect date. Coming home, we got caught in a very bad, very unexpected storm. The sail across the bay, which usually took a couple of hours, took us all night. At one point during the storm, we lost the jib. I had to climb the mast, with huge waves cresting, in order to replace it. The sail was ... unpleasant. Poor Kevin. His nerves were shot by 2 A.M. and he finally had to go below and sleep. I didn't blame him. Blue kept him company... My boat was a wreck by the time we reached the mooring. I was completely exhausted but had to immediately go to work. When I got back from work, the boat was spotless. Without a word, it had been cleaned fore and aft by the other guys living on boats out there. They saw me sail in and knew what I had been dealing with all night. That was one of the most welcome neighborly gestures anyone's ever made to me. I really miss the easy camaraderie we shared out there. (It was awhile before I convinced Kevin to go sailing again, but he did, and eventually ended up getting a boat of his own.) Right before I sold the boat, I bought an old truck, and one day I ran over Blue (remember her - the best dog in the whole wide world?). There was a veterinarian's office right next to another restaurant where I used to work, so I picked up Blue and put her in the truck, then pushed the truck until it got going fast enough to jump-start (I wasn't kidding when I said it was old) and drove to the vet. It was a weekend, so Marty, the vet, had no help. I had worked for a vet before, so I offered to assist. I also explained that I didn't have enough money to pay her, but that I would work off my bill if she would let me. Marty said great and we got to work. Blue lost her tail and her hip was in bad shape, but Marty (who is a goddess) fixed her up. (Blue died of old age many years later...) So, I worked for Marty until she was paid off. In the process, we became good friends. While I was working for her she introduced me to some folks who ran a reserve for wild animals up near LaHonda - up in the mountains in the middle of the redwoods. The reserve was home for a number of tigers, pumas, wolves, a bear, a chimp and some other pretty cool creatures. And Marty was their vet. After I finished working my bill off with Marty, I ended up living and working at the reserve. All I can say about the time I spent there is that until you've taken a walk through the California redwoods with only a tiger for company, then come home and hot tubbed with a chimp, you haven't lived. (grin) After the boat and the animals, I moved to the SF Bay area for awhile. I worked as a waiter and dj'd in a bar, then moved back to Monterey, then to Southern France, then Kansas, then got in a country band, then a rock band (The Penetrators, with Martina McBride. Ever imagine her singing "Baracuda" full out? hahaha), then got my undergrad in Music, then .... well, maybe I'll write about all that later. Or hey - I've got an idea. Just ask me about it. Want to see where I landed after squandering my youth? Email feedback to scott@scottcurry.net