Cannons

We escaped TWICE this trip. Steve and I. Alone with the sea.

Both times we planned to go fast. You know like we were seventeen? Reckless and free! But we kept cutting the engine. We were just too mesmerized by the now. Too much to see.

First there was the fish. Their were dozens maybe hundreds all flipping their fins. Jumping out of the water. Basically shouting look at me!

And they were all moving in a circle, in unison.

A school!

You know how much I like school.

Not really the”school school” part. That anyone can do. No, the community part of it. Building community. Being one of many. That part. I could watch it all day.

And we too just turned in circles letting the fish and their natural wake turns us, the boat at the whim of nature.

But we had more to see so we were off to the sea with a destination in mind. FAR.

And then BANG!!

What the fuck was that?

It sounded like a cannon.

Geez I’m really losing it, because here we are in Greenwich. Surely I must be losing it.

But Steve heard it too. This was not in my head. Phew still sane!

We followed the sound of the cannon and there you were. All of you. A pastel shirted sea of people standing in silence. Standing in silence. And we watched. You were taking down the American flag.

We had zero clue what was going on, but it felt important. So we cut our engine again. We turned off our music. And there we sat bobbing in the middle of the water in silence with you.

We had theories. Maybe terrorism attack? Soldier killed overseas? We really had no idea what You were doing, but, Greenwich, we were with you. We will observe your ritual. We will be one with you.

This is us bobbing while the flag lowered. What you can’t see are the hundreds of people who were eating and then stopped mid sentence and stood in silence.

Luckily some of you friends know of this Greenwich place and were able to tell me that this is a thing, a daily thing. At sundown everyday the flag is lowered and put away. And everyday you STOP. You all STOP and stand up for America.

FUCK YEAH (South Park Version).

This is a ritual I can get behind. Hey Greenwich, I like your style. I also believe in this country. I know we have had our faults, but I recall like you what we stand for. And we stand for that. I haven’t forgotten and seems like you haven’t either.

This we had to do again.

We planned our second escape (the second night) around your ritual.

For our second escape, we could barely see 50 feet in front of us. The sea was full of fog.

Perfect. Just how we like it.

This is how we operate. Only seeing 50 feet in front of us, you know, the forced living in the now. Not knowing what lies ahead.

And we GUNNED it. FLYING.

The sea was choppy and mystic. We were heading into the unknown. I should have taken more pictures, but look at the open sea below. Look at the sea off the land. Look at that fog. That is what we drove straight into.

And there was nothingness. Just us in our dingy in the open sea.

But then we saw something. It was like a mirage. It was like running into a beacon of light. It was a gorgeous. And there were two.

Two massive sailboats in the fog. Sitting in the sea. Looking at Greenwich like we look at Greenwich, specks of light. They sat surrounded by fog. Surrounded by nature. RESPECT. I like these Greenwich sail people.

But these aren’t ordinary sailboats, these are vessels of the sea and we sat in awe. We waved. We shouted hello! Why not? How are we not fated to meet? You were hidden and we found you. You’re in my movie now.

We had to return though as we had an appointment to get to. We asked someone what time the canon went off afraid to miss it and they said 7:49 at sunset. Google says 7:51.

Do you also have your own time Greenwich? Are you just two minutes ahead of us all? It seemed possible, you do have matching children, you claim to have all the financial projections. Maybe this is your secret? You are just two minutes ahead.

We were sure to get there at 7:40 to be safe. Maybe it was more than two minutes. We questioned if we were being given accurate information. You know we weren’t in uniform.

So we bobbed there outside your kingdom. We were actually surprised the coast guard didn’t come. We looked pretty weird and was clear that we were not members. Steve in his boat hat and me…well you know me.

We decided to play MUSIC! But what? It had to be powerful. It had to compliment your ritual. We come in peace.

We choose the Live Aid version of “We are the Champions.” You know Queen? And you know what? Those lyrics couldn’t be more true of America.

But it’s been no bed of roses

No pleasure cruise

I consider it a challenge before the whole human race

And I ain’t gonna lose

We are the champions, my friends

And we’ll keep on fighting ’til the end

We are the champions

We are the champions

And then it happened. You started at 7:49, you are two minutes ahead, but this was to only join our time with the flag down at 7:51 on the dot. Punctual you people are! Nice.

And I kept thinking here are a bunch of people who may not share my political views, nor my choice in armor, but we do share this. We share this country and we will fight to keep being America. And yes it has not been a pleasure cruise (especially as of late), but it was nice seeing you all stand and recognize that we rise to the challenge. America rises above it all. NO TIME FOR LOSERS.

And we stood. We stood in that boat rocking in silence. Hand over chest.

And I felt for a minute maybe Greenwich and I aren’t so different at all. Maybe they too will join this fight. This fight for our country that can do ANYTHING we set our minds to. The country that leads in medicine. This country that will cure.

All we need to do is unite. Maybe we are just on different time zones. I may just set my clock a few minutes ahead. Greenwich seems to be on to something.