Halloween Boo-bees in my Face

Surf City had no available slips so we made a reservation in Wrightsville Beach--in the Wilmington NC area-- at the Dockside Marina and Restaurant. The trip from Beaufort to Wrightsville was a long 50 mile run with opposing wind and tide so we didn't even get a chance to shut the motor down and sail.

Yesterday was Halloween and we looked forward for some Halloween fun at the restaurant bar. But just before we passed through the last bascule bridge I decided to have a beer. Charlie had left part of a 12-pack of Yingling the other night and one of those beers was calling my name.

I don't usually drink when underway. The rigors of navigating in unfamiliar waters and the concentration required to dock our boat stern-in while fighting the conflicting passions of wind and tide requires a clear mind. But the trip was almost over and I had looked at the marina on-line and would most likely tie up along side a long outer pier. Beginner stuff. So I slowly drank the beer, savoring every drop. I must have drank the beer too slowly because when the beer had warmed to ambient temperature a bee wanted to share my pleasure. Bees don't like cold beer. But they love warm beer.

Just before reaching the bridge I took one last pull on the beer can. This annoyed Mr. Bee who was down inside of the can helping me with my last drop of liquid bread (that's how I think of beer). He retaliated by stinging me inside of my upper lip. For a brief moment I didn't understand why I was experiencing such pain but I reactively spit the mouth full of beer out and Mr. Bee came out along with it. Boo bee!! I must have crunched down on Mr. Bee because he lay on the cockpit seat gasping for life. His tiny wings could barely move. "We're all God's children and we all, man and insect alike, share in his love," I told him. Then in an act of selfless benevolence, I put him out of his misery by slowly pulling his tiny wings off one at a time. I pinched his head between my fingers until his eyes and stinger simultaneously popped out of his body. Then I fed him to the fish that I had been watching pass under the boat on my new chartplotter/fishfinder.

My upper lip began to swell. By the time we docked the boat and headed up to the bar, my Halloween costume was complete. I was going as Homer Simpson. Mandy gave me some drugs which reduced the swelling but also had a soporific effect. By 8:00 pm, I had changed from Homer Simpson to 'dead man walking'. By 8:15, I was asleep. No Halloween partying for Captain Run Aground.

I have stopped posting photos for a while because my computer is so low on disc space that I can't load them from the camera. As soon as I can get some CDs to move pictures out of photo files, I'll post photos again.