Wednesday, September 17, 2008

IN SEARCH OF BOB AND ELLA...

There's a story behind this boat...

Port Townsend, Washington. Two lane roads. Deer nibbling in yards. The smell of one of the few remaining paper mills. The sound of a ferry in the distance. Boats. Boats in water. Boats at docks. Boats in yards. Under hoists. Up on jacks.
I went to Port Townsend in search of Bob.
Driving down the street. I looked for Bob's car.
Shiny honda? Not a chance.
Well maintained PT cruiser? Unlikely.
BMW? No way.
Then I saw it.
Sitting in the middle of the road.
A Volkswagen van. Rusted sides. Duct tape on the mirror. Door tied shut with yellow nylon rope.
Yep. That'll work.
Next I wanted to find out where he worked.
Bartending?
Nope.
Attorney?
Nope.
Cashier?
Nope.
At the end of the road across from the marina there was a huge warehouse. I peeked inside.
Molds. Woodworking tools. Smooth shining hulls.
Boatwright?
Yep.
I passed a small building attached with a sign. "Yard Office."
Perfect.
I tried to find Bob himself.
I thought I might, but he appeared to always be just ahead of me.
Out of sight. Around the corner. I saw the back of a head. A smile. A wink.
Each place we went in- he had just left.
Ephemeral.
Ah well. Maybe next time.
And then?
At Fort Worden. I found his boat. Out in a grassy field.
I waited for a while but Bob didn't show up.
So I did the next best thing.
I found Ella.

Didn't I tell you? She spends time in Port Townsend.
We discussed my dilemma over a beer...
"Pat," she said. "You get hung up on the details."
She motioned me closer and whispered, "You got to let art just flow over you..."
And then she took a drink of her Kempers and winked.

17 comments:

José Iriarte said...

*grin*

Very nice.

I need to do that.

:)

Adrienne said...

Cute pic! As always, love your photos!

I tagged you hon over at my blog btw!

The Anti-Wife said...

Pt. Townsend is a wonderful place. Bob must have been very busy that day cause had he known you were looking for him he surely would have popped up.

ORION said...

Ella reminded me to sit down now and write the first draft and said Bob would start to emerge...
BOB the CHARACTER
(not to be confused with BOB the BETA READER)

Holly Kennedy said...

Very cute!
Ella, I mean, and the boat too!

Bookfool said...

Wow, what a little philosopher! No wonder you love hanging out with Ella!

Tyhitia Green said...

Cute. Ella is so cute. Is that your granddaughter? :-)

I love to search for my chracters too. It's so much fun.

M. Damian McNicholl said...

Could see you searching.
Enjoyed this lots.

Heidi Willis said...

Kids are so wise, aren't they?

What happens to all that wisdom when you grow up? Does it grow out of you, or is it just hiding?

ORION said...

no relation - ella is my neighbor at the harbor...
and yes.
I learn lots from her!

Chris Eldin said...

One of my favorite posts of yours.
Love this!!
:-)

laughingwolf said...

purrrrrrrrrfect! thx pat :)

Sandra Cormier said...

That Emma is like... some sorta... Shamen or something.

Sandra Cormier said...

Um... Shaman?

Michelle O'Neil said...

Is this the same Ella of the mast climbing talent?

She's awesome!

Sustenance Scout said...

We all need an Ella next door. :)

Jamie Ford said...

Awwww....nice.

And on trivial note, I designed the very first TK Root Beer label, wow...20 years ago. Weird, I know.