Oct

14

Water Water Everywhere

Filed Under Baby Book 

“My water just broke” is one of the few phrases that grabs a man by his balls and gets his full attention. When Jodi turned back to utter these words in the pouring rain I had just picked up a bag of our dog Oliver’s shit. Did someone say romantic!

Jodi’s water broke as she stepped onto the gang plank of our floating home in the biggest storm the Sausalito houseboats had seen in 10 years. She’d spent the night in a local hotel, hadn’t slept in two days and immediately broke into tears. “Not like this. It’s not supposed to happen like this,” she cried through eyes swollen by sleep debt and the nasty cold she’d caught at the hotel.

Small Steps, Big World, acrylic, 1956 Betty Crocker cookbook on 12 6"x6" canvases
Small Steps, Big World

“You don’t worry about a thing. We’re gonna do this, and I’ll handle everything,” I said somewhat convincingly, as I flew downstairs and threw the requisite items into a satchel. In minutes we were speeding along on the Golden Gate Bridge to roll out the red carpet for our boy, Kai, named after the beautiful mysterious ocean churning far below us.

Two nights earlier this endless squall woke me in the wee hours twice to take our pictures and decorations off the walls and shelves. And, in the teeth of the gale’s 80-100 mph winds, just after first light, one of the 16-inch pilings that anchors our home snapped its base like a swizzle stick, sending our floating 40′x16′, 2-story domestic rectangle smashing into our wooden dock a few inches from a gas line. Bad! Very Bad! Then … the power went.

At that point, Jodi, at 36 weeks and on bed rest, threw in the towel, packed up and headed for the Holiday Inn, for on a houseboat, when the power goes, you cannot use your water due to the electric pump system. So off she waddled while I flew into Defcon 4 mode to keep our little slice of equity from imploding and falling to the sea floor. Four hours of frantic rope pulling, 3 frigid rain-soaked costume changes and one chain saw later we’d stabilized the situation to fight another day. Little did I know that the mighty sea was simply preparing for the arrival of its namesake the following day.

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Comments

12 Responses to “Water Water Everywhere”

  1. DeborahNo Gravatar on October 16th, 2008 12:18 pm

    Nice writing Stu! Nice project. :) best

  2. normanNo Gravatar on October 16th, 2008 12:48 pm

    i cant wait to hear the rest!!!

  3. WendyNo Gravatar on October 16th, 2008 12:58 pm

    I can’t wait to read the rest of this book! You are an amazing writer. What a great project.

  4. LarryNo Gravatar on October 16th, 2008 1:21 pm

    Love it, that water is soo! romantic….best water of your life I bet :)

  5. JaneNo Gravatar on October 16th, 2008 1:45 pm

    I DO love hearing your stories…and by the way Kai is gorgeous!

  6. ArleneNo Gravatar on October 16th, 2008 4:03 pm

    Been eagerly awaiting the arrival of this book. Definitely not disappointed and looking forward to the next chapter.

  7. RobertNo Gravatar on October 16th, 2008 9:50 pm

    glad you made it through the storm, now you only have to weather the next 18 years or so….

  8. MarysolNo Gravatar on October 17th, 2008 12:01 pm

    AmaZing! Looking forward to the future emails of Patio DaddyO.. love the title! Truly, when I hear from you it lightens up my soul.. Artist! that u are. God Bless

  9. MichelleNo Gravatar on October 18th, 2008 5:36 pm

    Stu… you rock the serious casa baby!!! I’m a fan; keep on writing and I’ll keep on reading and being inspired. peace and moonies :)

  10. LeslieNo Gravatar on October 21st, 2008 9:51 pm

    finally found the time to read your first chapter — love it
    maybe you will write about Kai and his Miami friends when we have our playdate this Thanksgiving!

  11. taraNo Gravatar on October 21st, 2008 10:16 pm

    wow. i felt that crazy wet storm in your story. please keep writing!

  12. Mary QNo Gravatar on November 10th, 2008 9:39 pm

    I look forward to each update of the book - your writing is so beautiful. The most recent picture of you and Kai was a real winner. He is so handsome and you’re not bad either.

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