Baby on Board

Yesterday, we had one of our more eventful walks down the dock. This time we pushed a stroller with a small baby down the dock, instead of a shopping cart full of groceries. The total count of humans living on Otis Pagoda is now 3! We were stopped by several neighbors who also welcomed the smallest and newest member to the houseboat community.

I believe the most interesting thing about the last several months is the awareness of the community surrounding the arrival of the newest houseboat dweller. Everyone on our dock has commented that they are excited about the move in date for this small human. This is one aspect of living here that I did not expect, and in fact was taken aback by.

I did not expect our neighbors to care and or notice the changes that were happening. When in fact there was an interest in what was going on with our lives. Making this just another part of houseboat living that surprised me. The other fascinating commentary about our experience in the last couple of months is the neighbors all had positive and heartfelt intentions when speaking to us about the upcoming addition to our family. Which is not always the case with pregnancy as you tend to hear the worst.

Overall, we are thrilled and pleased to bring little MMM home with us, and have her begin houseboat living. We look forward to finding out when she is an adult if she will think living here will be super cool or of course super dorky.

So the adventure begins. . .

I Dream Of. . . huh?

I know, it has been awhile. I guess there was a small fear that we might be leaving since our lease is up and I didn't know how to handle that. But alas our landlord is extending it, so we will just float on.

Two weekends we went to land for the weekend. It was our first weekend away since Oct, we have been waterlocked I guess. It was nice to get away but different than that urge when we lived in the city which would hit about every 6 weeks or so. Life is different in Marin!

While we were gone each evening Ben or I had a dream about water, and no good ones. The first night I have a dream we were at a Camp St. Croix-type of dining hall and there was a tsunami. The water kept rushing in and we had to hold onto the rafters to stay out of the way. I might mention that I do remember that the water was sea/ocean water so it wasn't bath tub warm, but wicked cold like the water we live on. (Guess I miss it when it is not around.)

The next evening Ben had a dream about the Mississippi, and a boat crash. His words of wisdom were; "Ann, if we are ever on a boat on the Mississippi and its capsizes, please listen to me and don't swim under the boat." Ok that seems like sage advice. Apparently, I wanted to prove that I knew what happened to make the boat capsize. After being in boats that have capsized, I can tell you from past performances I am not trying to figure out what happened but how to get the boat back up and stay the H away from the water.

Seems like this floating abode does have an affect on us when we are gone from it. mmm, who knew!

In the News, the comments hurt the most...

Alright, so I just got home from yoga no less... and clicked open sfgate.com to check out the latest news. I came across this article all about a new houseboat design. Yes, it is interesting and the concept of Tafoni is not off base of what Ben and I discuss. Well sort of... maybe it goes against it. Our thought is buy one of these "Dwell" prefab homes and slap it on a barge and boom amazing floating home. This article focuses on interesting design for houseboats, which I am not sure if this has ever been addressed.

Reading the Chronicle is always an interesting task. Sometimes they take themselves seriously and sometimes they don't. The best part of any sfgate.com article is the comment section. Oh man it is amazing. It totally increases the enjoyment level of reading anything online, until now.

Alright, yes my feelings are hurt and I am not going to vent them on the Chron's website, that seems a bit more public than I am willing to go (yes, I know I have a blog, but that is different).

James58 had this to say "Just the OPPOSITE. Smelly environs. Too close to your neighbors. What about a sewer system? A muddy parking lot for 4 mos. of the year?

Maybe for the dreamland vista of aging late 50s and 60-year old hippies... otherwise it's a nightmare to live on a houseboat surrounded by freaks and swales." James58, you have never been here! Shut up! This is a wonderful place to live, we have a sewer, the parking lot isn't muddy and the last time I checked I am not a 50-60 year old hippie and NOT A FREAK! I realize this kind of living isn't for everyone, but come on. I don't make fun of the places you live, unless it is really strange or something. Ah, now I am just annoyed.

Living here has been a wonderful experience. We love all of our neighbors! It is not smelly. Whatever. And interesting home design should be open to all spaces and people.

Christmas Tree

Yes, I know this is really late, but we lost the power cord to our camera... but here is a video of how we took our tree out of the house...

The Girl with One Rollerblade (Sad.)

Yes, there are children that live on our dock. In fact there are probably about 10 of them, which for a place with no backyard or setting like that is a bit surprising. Also for some reason people have it in their head that a houseboat would be a dangerous place to raise a child. I really don't see that but then again people can believe whatever they want, right, right.

Each morning a young girl around 9 years old walks down the dock with her mom or dad. I would imagine she is of course on the way to school and not work. The funny thing is that she wears 1 rollerblade, not two, but one. So the foot with the rollerblade is higher than the other one, which you think would throw her off, it doesn't. She then also scoots down the dock as if she was on a skateboard. I am not sure why she only wears 1 rollerblade. I am curious if this is about safety but honestly it is pretty hard to fall into the water or mud (depending on where you are in the tides). I think it would be easier for her to wear both rollerblades than just 1 of them. Then again maybe she only has 1, I have not checked out if it is always on her right or left, which would help answer that question. I also don't want to stop and ask since she is usually with a parent and that seems like a bad idea from all sides!

You have to wonder what they say about us?

GUS. . .

As you may have guessed there are many types of interesting people living on the dock. We have met many of our neighbors as we have lived there. And yes when we walk down the dock there is always someone to say "Hi" to or something new to look at. I have no idea why I have brought this up before, but I should probably talk about Gus, since he is a cat.

It hit me that this should be a blog topic on Friday as I was walking home around 5 and noticed Gus and the dude who owns them cruising down the dock. Each night (and possibly morning, not sure) Gus goes for a walk. He lives in the middle of our dock. Well I have seen him in the windows and I know where his owner lives. Gus and said owner head out around 4-5 and just take a stroll down the to the end of the dock. Apparently, Gus is 15 year old and has been doing this for year. He is a orange and white long haired mix. He jumps up on planters, sniffs around and just sort of saunters down the dock, much like a cat would. His owner is never more than 3 steps behind him. If you pass him he only sort of looks at you and them keeps moving. There is never a point where Gus stops and lets you pet him. It just isn't his thing. This is his time to cruise around and take his walk.

I think I have gotten used to this deal, but all of a sudden it did strike me as a bit odd since this is only time I have seen anyone take their cat for a walk. (Ok that isn't really true, a young girl I grew up with did tie a jump rope around her cat's neck and took it for a walk, granted the cat never stood up. Therefore it might not count since in theory she really dragged her cat around. Not a walk then, right, just a drag?)

Rain

I have not seen the sun for more than like 5 mins since December. It has been cloudy and overcast, and now the forecast is calling for more rain. Rain, it is different here. Well the sound is different, also the walking down the dock in the rain . . .

When it rains, the raindrops do not hit the ground like in other places, instead it hits water. This creates a noise that is quiet loud and shocking. It sounds as if maybe the rain is actually coming into our house and possibly getting our things wet. It sounds like rain that you might hear in a tent while camping. Ben thinks this is great and really relaxing. It has taken me several months to get used to this noise.

So as the forecast brings rain it also brings noise, but after several months, I am not as alarmed as I once was.