Thursday, December 20, 2012

Blame Buffett?

Shirl and I were interviewed today via telephone by a gentleman in Australia. He has been following our blog and does sailing pod casts. One of the many questions he asked was..."why blame Buffett"? I thought that was a good question. Here is basically how I answered it.

 I have always listened to Jimmy Buffett's music. While he is not a great singer, or an over the top guitarist, he is a great entertainer. His music tells a story. Jimmy has the ability through his music to transport you to Margaritaville. We all know Margaritaville is a state of mind.  Buffett's music can put you in that Margaritaville state of mind. Jimmy's music is simple, entertaining, and fun. It has always been and will continue to be part of my music library.
When my children were young...they are adults now with children of their own, we would vacation with family on a lake in Tennessee. They would swim, play, knee board, ski, swing from ropes into the lake, and spend time with family. We would keep the boats out on the lake for as long as possible every day. You guessed it...with Buffett music playing. Why? because we all wanted to go to Margaritaville. With the water, sunshine, warm temperatures, cool drinks, and Jimmy singing we had our own little piece of paradise. To this day I can remember my kids singing along on "Boat Drinks". My recent boating and relaxing has been on a houseboat on Cumberland lake...a great place by the way. If you can't get to saltwater...go to Cumberland. At Cumberland Buffett music plays.  When our family vacations in Florida...our favorite restaurant, even the grand kids love it, is Margaritaville. More Buffett music.

Jimmy's music can take you out of the rat race...off of the hamster wheel...away from the nine to five grind, and place you on an island, under a palm tree in warm tropical breezes, with the smell of salt in the air. His music has done that for me. For the brief minutes that the songs play you can escape the ordinary life...leave it behind, and imagine what it would be like to live your life like a Jimmy Buffett song.
 We are going to sail to an island...sit under a palm tree with our toes in the sand, smell the salt air and sing BoatDrinks. We will relax, think, look at the stars, and enjoy some down time. We want to be sun baked, salt encrusted, and have some fun. In short we want to have an extended stay in Margaritaville.

I guess what I am trying to do is to Blame Buffett for the fact that I am now singing my own song.
Maybe it's my own damn fault...

Thanks for the music Jimmy!


Our family favorite... 

12 comments:

  1. we are praying for you Ted...and your whole family.

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  2. Rest in Peace Friend as you spend eternity in MargaritaVille.
    Love and prayers to your family and loved ones.

    Betty and Len Conner

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  3. For those that are not aware, Ted suffered a massive heart attack while at Fort Meyers and passed away on December 27th. We were distressed to learn this on Tuesday while on passage from Key West to Marathon. We did not know Ted but we had traded a couple of emails and followed each other's blogs. We were both new cruisers and I always believed that we would hook up at some point over a cold one and tell newly stories.

    Judy and I are deeply saddened by this terrible turn of events and our thoughts and prayer are with Shirl and Ted's entire family.

    Brian & Judy Wagner
    S/V Sweet Escape

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  4. At the beginning of this post Ted referred to being interviewed by an Australian, which was with me, David, for 'The Sailing Podcast'. You can now find that interview at www.thesailingpodcast.com/blamebuffett .

    It was very kind of Shirley to encourage me to go ahead and release the interview. We both felt that Ted would have wished it to go ahead. It was a privilege to speak with Ted and Shirley and my thoughts are with all their family at this time.

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  5. I listened to the podcast today and enjoyed it. I found it inspiring.

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  6. I am very sorry to hear about Ted. I have really enjoyed reading Blame Buffett.

    I listened to the podcast and also found it inspiring.

    Fair winds.

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  7. I am so sorry to hear this news. Prayers are with you and your family.

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  8. We just learned of Ted's passing, and are so very sorry for your loss Shirl! We've been following along and have been inspired by your adventures. Our thoughts are with your family at this difficult time!

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  9. I found Blamebuffet after seeing a post on Mid-Life cruising and read it from start to finish. I loved the way Ted wrote about his journey with Shirl, and felt as though I was with them along the way. As I read post to post, aware of the ending of the story, each post brought tears to my eyes. Especially the comments from his family who loved and missed him so much. It is like knowing the end of a movie, and wanting so much for it to end differently. What was so evident in all of Ted's posts, more than his love of sailing, was his love for his family.. his wife, his mom, his children, grandchildren, and friends. What a gift to have been loved so much by such a good man. Ted is an inspiration to all of us who want to "sing our own songs." My thoughts and prayers are with you all.

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