While in Galena, Illinois two weeks ago, I purchased the book, Through Europe at Four Knots: A Tale of Boating Mayhem and Family Adventure, by Les Horn. It's a memoir account of his family's sailboat adventure from England to the Black Sea, including sailing through many former "Iron Curtain" countries. There were, of course, mishaps along the way, as well as plenty of bribery and taxation, but somehow they managed to sail along to their final destination in Italy.
I read this book because Becky and I have always fancied that we would like to someday purchase a sailboat and make our own adventures on the high seas. But I'm not really a high seas kind of guy. I'm more like a sail-across-the-two-acre-pond kind of guy. Still, I admire anyone who has the chutzpah to travel through Europe without a visa.
Most of my life adventures don't involve boats. They involve cars that break down in the eastern slums of St. Louis (ala Clark Griswold in Family Vacation), or taxi rides from the airport that border on the suicidal, or hiking excursions through State Parks with people who like to smoke from water bongs.
No, my life isn't filled with much adventure. I just like to read about them . . . and dream the dream. Someday, though, I am going to buy myself a rubber duckie for the whirlpool bath.
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