November 12, 2008: Dempolis, AL

This is another quiet day in the marina for me working. Tom took a bike ride and when he got back, he said he had been to Utah. I suggested that was quite a ride! But he clarified that he had been about 20 miles to Eutaw, Alabama.

The excitement for today was to move the boat to the fuel dock and get filled up. We are so happy that the price is dropping and we bought at $2.90 a gallon.

The other fun thing is that we met a lady and her five year old daughter who were captain and crew of a sailboat in the marina. We had seen them on Saturday riding bikes in Pickensville.

We got to take a tour of the big green and white tug boat that was tied up on the other side of the fuel dock. The tugboat Ashleigh was on her way to Birmingham, but their kitchen oven unit burned out and the Captain had gone into town for a replacement. The cooking area was pine paneled and outfitted like any home kitchen, including the aroma of chili cooking. Upstairs he showed us several bunk bed rooms, bathrooms, and the pilot house with a wonderful 360 degree view. It was interesting to see the driving station with its ThinkPad computer laptop and wireless connection and the driving levers that controlled the rudders rather than a steering wheel. He had the ultimate corner office. Under the window there was a little prayer for God’s presence because “my boat is so small and the sea is so large”. The crewman told us that the tug carried 30,000 gallons of fuel and showed us the huge ropes they used on board. My!

Since we could pick up ABC on the television, we got to watch the Country Music Awards tonight which was fun since we had just been in Nashville. We were happy to see the #1 Single of the Year was “I Saw God Today”, tender lyrics about a father experiencing the birth of his daughter, a song that rings true to us as we await our granddaughter’s birth.