Paying Attention

What another crazy buzzing world I have entered. I could talk endlessly of all the things I have been learning.... the conservation of energy one of the most all pervasive. Every light, every switch, every single instrument or draw of energy is paid attention to because it depletes the battery - and the battery on the boat is our life's blood. It is that which keeps our cold food cold, our radio and computers functioning, our lights on, and instruments reading correctly. Every day is one long attempt to keep the incoming solar and wind power ahead of our electricity use so we don't go into defecit and have to run the engine to charge the battery. It's not the end of world, but who wants to listen to the maddening roar and smell the stink of diesel, marring the peace and tranquility surrounding us. And it uses fuel too... which costs money, whereas wind and sunlight are both free and plentiful.
It is a living meditation in being attentive to the small things in life and allowing them to become an all encompassing awareness of every ounce of energy that we use in a day. It is the same for water. Here we are with water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink. We pay attention to how we wash our dishes, clothes, ourselves... using as little water as possible. We can make water on board using reverse osmosis - turning sea water to fresh, but that requires electricity and if we're depleted then that requires diesel as well. And the whole point is to be self sufficient and not paying for our daily lives... So we swim in the ocean multiple times a day, wash clean with bird baths, or by turning off the water to soap up between rinses, sometimes scrubbing the dishes in sea water then rinsing in fresh. All of these things have made me pay more attention to energy and water use - and less at the same time. Because there is a pattern of balance that can be reached at which you are living in a way which now feels normal and yet not wasting an inch - and the wind and sun CAN keep up - and you are beholden to none...
Until the wind dies and the skies cloud over....
Then it's a dreary humid day below decks with the engine roaring.
But it's a beautiful dream.

And most days here it is the dream that is real
NOT the rain.