The night before the row begins!

Greetings, Gentle Reader June 20, 2009

It’s stopped raining. The sky is clear, the winds are calm. In eleven hours I push off from the dock.
My training today? Picking up a life jacket at West Marine…in the pouring rain. There seemed something prophetic about the act, but tonight’s skies promise pretty good weather tomorrow. But I’ve written enough about the weather, haven’t I?

Let me write a bit about Peg. She has watched patiently as I have piled provisions and equipment around the house, painted windows and peeled wallpaper as I have stared distantly into maps and charts, and is gracious and understanding beyond words as she lets me depart on this row-about. I know that it worries her a bit (the row, not my sloth around the house, which ought to be a cause of concern), and I am grateful beyond words to have her in my life. Peg, darlin’, thanks!!

Thanks, too, to Kathy, the Keeper of the Blog. Only Kathy can set up a site about a past-middle-age wannabe adventurer that would attract hapless readers from Brazil, Egypt, and beyond. Kathy, thanks for your help on this; I do better at the oars than in cyberspace.

Finally, thanks in advance of the row to the donors who have kept the fundraising gpong. The boys who receive the benefits of your generosity are enormously important to me, and I appreciate how so many of you see the seriousness of purpose in this otherwise lighthearted adventure.

So…ready or not, here I go. Thanks for tuning in, and you can count on Peg and Kathy to keep you posted in my absence.

Mr. Frei rows to Washington…starting tomorrow! I may have something to say about health care when I arrive, expect me to deliver my remarks from a standing position.

Hugs,
Mr. Frei