Good morning! [175 words, ~ 1/2 page]

Last night I couldn't settle down for sleep. I went up on the cabin top and sat down against my mast with one arm around it until my brain stopped whirling, and soon I could lay down. I looked up at the few stars the Bay Area sky allows, and in awhile I saw a meteor scratch a notch across the sky next to the tip of my mast.

This morning, I had to be up betimes. A painful thing, but I managed. I got up to use the shore head and stepped out into the kind of sky that looks like it was finger-painted by a 4-year-old: little skill, few colors, and no taste at all, but LOTS of enthusiasm. It was glorious, especially with the soft air of a warm morning caressing the mouth with each breath.

I came back to find Arthur had come down the dock to greet me, his long fur fluffed out and waving with the gentle humidity, a tuxedo-colored cloud of purry contentment.

I like living on a boat.

Character moment [100 words]

I got a tool to finish installing the footpump with. I also found the best used-crap store I've ever seen, selling everything from old LPs to hand-knotted Persian rugs and kilims, of which even the huge ones were under 2k. I picked up a tool and a movie for a song.

Walking back to my boat, I had a sublime moment when I realized I was carryng a Jane Austen movie in one hand and a foot-long wrench in the other. That's one way to tell that it's going to be a great afternoon.