Life of a Dinghy

In search of a change of scenery, I made my way down to the waterfront, sat watching the moored boats bobbing to the ripples of the bay from my shady spot on the dock. My head starts filling with a melody from yesteryear, I hear Otis Redding singing, "I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay, watchin' the tide roll away, ooh ooh. I'm just sittin' on the dock of the bay, wastin' time."

The dock, surrounded on three sides by dinghies, all huddled together bumping and nudging each other for spaces closer to the edge. Each dinghy with its own branded character, the well-cared for ones, the one full of trash, one is hand crafted, another appears to be straight out of a James Bond movie, and yet another that carries signs of abandonment—filled nearly to the brim with water. They get me thinking about their owners and the larger boats that they serve, and the song. "Sittin' in the morning sun, I'll be sittin' when the evening comes. Watching the ships roll in, then I watch them roll away again." The lyrics I thought fit perfectly for the dangling dinghies at the dock, in their very best present moment fashion, and I wondered—what was Otis writing about?

Turns out Otis Redding, as co-writer of the song was sitting on a houseboat in Sausalito, California, where he started penciling the lyrics, reflecting on his life in Georgia and simultaneously his present moment on Waldo Point. Three days after the song was recorded, Otis died in a plane crash along with five of his band mates and the pilot. I never know where a thought or seemingly random song, that pops into my head will lead me. What I do know is, that on this day, I was living in the present moment—like the life of a dinghy, "Just sittin' on the dock of the bay." Thanks Otis.