"It won't last!" These are frequently the words fellow sailors and friends say when we have them to dinner or for sundowners. They are not referring to Jonathan and I, or our living on the boat, but are commenting on our dishes. Yes, I have a kitchen full of lovely stoneware plates and bowls, hand made pottery mugs, vintage china and eek! - real glasses!
Now don't get the wrong idea here, this is not all matchie-matchie stuff, or expensive chinaware. They are all just favorite dishes, chosen from my vast thrift store inspired collection that filled 2 rooms at home. Dishes came onto Odyssey just because I loved the color or the shape, who made them or where I found them. If they made me smile, they made the boat, breakable, valuable or not.
While I did read all the advice on non-breakable kitchenware on a boat, I just could not bring myself to give up this pleasure, no matter how short the lifespan might be for things selected to come aboard. You see, I had a different viewpoint on dishes when I lived in a house and still do now on the boat. I never saved the pretty stuff, I used it and now I sail with it. 'The bowl is already broken' is a 'fake' Buddhist quote but I like the sentiment. Everything; me, my boat, my love, my books and my dishes will all break and cease to exist, I just want to enjoy them all as fully as possible while they and I am here.
So, pack up the good stuff, and bring it on board, we're all not going to last.
Now don't get the wrong idea here, this is not all matchie-matchie stuff, or expensive chinaware. They are all just favorite dishes, chosen from my vast thrift store inspired collection that filled 2 rooms at home. Dishes came onto Odyssey just because I loved the color or the shape, who made them or where I found them. If they made me smile, they made the boat, breakable, valuable or not.
While I did read all the advice on non-breakable kitchenware on a boat, I just could not bring myself to give up this pleasure, no matter how short the lifespan might be for things selected to come aboard. You see, I had a different viewpoint on dishes when I lived in a house and still do now on the boat. I never saved the pretty stuff, I used it and now I sail with it. 'The bowl is already broken' is a 'fake' Buddhist quote but I like the sentiment. Everything; me, my boat, my love, my books and my dishes will all break and cease to exist, I just want to enjoy them all as fully as possible while they and I am here.
So, pack up the good stuff, and bring it on board, we're all not going to last.
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