Congratulations to Sir Robin Knox-Johnston!

3:55 pm update - I seriously almost feel like I have to apologize for the disjointedness of this post! It's one of the craziest times of the year at my always-hectic job right now - we're wrapping up budget season here at the Really Big Children's Book Company, the presentation to the board is tomorrow and we've been working flat out for the entire month of April. I was exhausted when I went home last night but I went ahead & wrote what I did because I knew there wouldn't be any lunchtime blogging today! Still, it was disjointed, but the sentiments are heartfelt. Oh, and as long as I'm updating, check out Brian's RKJ-day post over on A Moveable Bridge- as I mentioned below, I actually learned about the race I was blithering on about when Brian went & did a leg. Very cool.

4:21 pm update - one more quick note here in a lull - I think this link will take you to "Sir RKJ Day Central" over on Messing About in Sailboats - Adam's got to be the hardest-working blogger on the internet today keeping up with it all! Nice work & congratulations to him, too, for really pulling together something pretty cool! I'm glad to be part of this. Thanks, Adam!

Here it is, April 22nd, 2009 - Sir Robin Knox-Johnston Day on the Web, as called for by Adam Turinas over at Messing About in Boats.


And here he is, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, sailing back into Falmouth on April 22nd, 1969 three-hundred and thirteen days after he'd launched to join in the Golden Globe race to become the first person ever to complete a singlehanded circumnavigation of the earth.

And here I am, a forty-something cube-dwelling New York City number-cruncher sitting in front of my computer in my nice safe quiet Brooklyn apartment, thinking,

"I know I told Adam I loved the idea & was in, but how on earth can a total sailing nonentity like myself say something that even begins to be meaningful about an accomplishment like that?"

And the fact is that much though I'd like to somehow write something brilliant & thoughtful about it, I just don't think I'm up to the job. Especially here near the end of another brain-frying budget season.

Fortunately Adam's challenge didn't say anything about being brilliant - he just said to recognize the accomplishment & say "Congratulations".

So I shall quit beating myself up for not being brilliant and just say:

Congratulations to Sir Robin Knox-Johnson on the forty anniversary of his amazing achievement.

They may do it faster now, but they just can't do it braver!

I will add a little bit more -

Wonder why a brain-fried forty-something cube-dwelling New York City number cruncher is even participating in this day?

Well, because it being able to get out on the city's waterways in boats that makes it all work for me. I love kayaking, I love sailing, and although I'm no adventurer, who doesn't have pipe dreams?

And as I said to Adam in a comment when he first suggested this back in March:

I don't know that I'd ever actually have the nerve, but I love the fact that Sir Knox-Johnston runs an ocean race that even an ordinary middle-class, non-elite person like me could theoretically participate in.

I found out about the race when our friend Brian, from A Moveable Bridge, went and did it! Sent back some pretty harrowing reports, very exciting to read. Didn't always sound like fun but that's an amazing experience that Sir Knox-Johnston has opened up to a lot of people who might otherwise not have any chance at such a thing.

Really a wonderful use of the influence he's earned.


I just don't seem to have big enough words tonight to talk about generosity like that.