"Becalmed at Sunset" (William R. Davies)In the former case, the doldrums are an area of open ocean with no, or little wind. In the days of “wind power” ships within the doldrums could become becalmed there for days, even weeks. With no wind to propel them they languished in hot and humid weather with little movement. I have read the personal diaries of those who, 200 years ago, looked for relief from these equatorial dilemmas, their eyes and hopes were on the sails…looking for the slightest indications of a breeze, draft, or even a puff…of wind, to drive them to the currents and trade winds.
The Moments BeforeI have never experienced the maritime version of this malady, but I know her compositional sister well. It seems that August is the season most similar to the doldrums in our little corner of Asia. Even though we have been busy and our schedule is full, there has been little satisfaction that we are getting anything accomplished.
Even my Moleskine has seen little action this month. With so much to relay to you and so many things going on around us….none has seemed important once it was put to paper. I have deleted scores of pages this month as too worn or weary to make a good read. And we find ourselves thus…until today.
During Broad Daylight This afternoon I felt myself being edged closer to the currents of inspiration. Our day started with the same remarkable blue skies and saturating heat we have had all month. But late this afternoon things got dark quick…very dark. And within a few minutes we were in the midst of a full Mediterranean squall. For over an hour we manned the squeegees and buckets to scupper the water off our balconies and out of the adjoining rooms.
When it was finally over the air was clean. The breeze refreshing…and it seemed that the trade winds were luffing our sails again. Soon...we'll be underway.
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