The Rope

It was still early morning when I reached the old wooden docks of the marina. The sun had not yet come up over the tree line across the river, but the light it was already giving off let me see that it was going to be a very special day. It was cool, but that added a pleasant reality to my excitement. I could feel the heaviness of the early morning air, as I walked down the long narrow wooden walkway. I could see her at the end of the dock. She was sitting there waiting patiently for my arrival and looked as pretty as the morning flowers that dotted the banks of the Mississippi river. In just a few short minutes she would be mine. She would be my very own houseboat and I would be her captain. Tom, the original owner of the houseboat, was already there. He would be giving me the keys to my dream and officially starting my retirement. I knew in my heart that this was going to be a wonderful day. This would literally be the first day of the rest of my life. I had looked at many houseboats over the period of the last six months, keeping in mind that I would probably be spending the rest of my life aboard the one I chose. It had always been my dream to spend my golden years living on the water and traveling up and down the Mississippi river exploring all the wonders that it had to offer. Not only would I be able to travel to different places and experience different cultures, but I could also stop and fish. Which was my real passion. Any time the mood struck me. I would also be away from the stress and hassle of the city life that I had come to hate with a passion. But what really caught me by surprise was the cost of my dream. Financially, I was in pretty good shape. But the houseboats that made you feel like you were in a real home were way too far out of my price range. I had to settle for more like a nice trailer on pontoons than a floating house. Nevertheless, I was more than happy with my choice of the houseboat I bought. The boat I purchased from Tom was ten foot wide and forty-eight foot long. She had a full bedroom with a small bathroom and shower. There were also two queen size loft beds above a nice size combined living / dining room with a full galley. There was a very nice uncovered rear deck, which had a green indoor-outdoor carpet covering it. It also had a large covered front deck with a veranda like patio and hard wood flooring. Both decks had iron railings with a hard wood varnished cap. Everything on board was electrical from the stove to the hot water heater. The electricity came from solar panels located on the roof above the loft beds. She was everything I needed and being a “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie fan and an adventurer / pirate in my own heart, I named her “The Black Pearl.” Tom lived in Helena, Arkansas right on the west side of the Mississippi river. I had found the houseboat listed on the Internet back in December. Tom and I had talked many times over the phone and he had sent me many pictures of the boat, before I finally decided to buy it in late January. This was the first time I had met Tom in person and after thanking him again and taking possession of the Pearl, I turned the key, started the engine and pulled out onto the Mississippi river. I headed south down the river towards Greenville, Mississippi. I had taken a bus up the night before from there, where I had bought a small piece of property right on the river. It had a dock, garage, and storage shed to house my SUV and personal belongings. I would be using that as a home port. As the Pearl and I cruised along with the current I slid a Charlie Pride CD into the CD player and helped him sing, “Roll on Mississippi” as we made our way towards Greenville. In my mind life could not have been any more satisfying than it was at that moment. Terry Stevens was a retired general building contractor that grew up in Los Angeles, California. He was fifty-seven years old and stood about five eight. He weighed a hundred and eighty pounds and was in good shape for a man his age. He was a quiet man and enjoyed his solitude. He loved reading books, especially Mark Twain, or anything that had to do with the old days on the Mississippi river. As a young man he had fallen in love with Becky Thatcher right along with Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Terry also remembered the stories his father used to tell him as a child about when he used to work on the barges as a young man traveling up and down the Mississippi. He loved those stories and was envious of his father, and wished he could have had those types of adventures as a boy himself. As he grew up, Terry married a lovely young lady and had one son. That lasted for fifteen years but ended almost twenty years ago. He loves his son a great deal and still keeps in touch with him on a regular basis. He tries to see him every chance he gets. His son lives in Dallas, and at thirty; is busy building a life of his own. Terry had worked hard and is proud of the life he has built for himself. He is now ready to enjoy the fruits of that labor and live his dream. It took a couple of days in Greenville, to get my personal belongings on board and set up banking and other accounts that I could access via the Internet from wherever I might wind up. I had a satellite system installed that would give me an Internet connection as well as television. I was proud of myself for finding a satellite dish that automatically tracked the satellite without my having to move the dish every time I stopped. It was spendy, but well worth it. When I thought the Pearl was completely set up, just the way I wanted it, and stocked with all the supplies and tackle she could hold, I started out on the adventure of my life.