September 5, 2012
I've learned many things from my father: foremost is to never leave the house without a pen and a small pocket-size notebook. Since age seven, I've rarely left the house unarmed.
It's handy for jotting down the big ideas and the small details that might escape one at a moment's notice.
The autumn that I was twenty-one, I decided to go to sea as a cook. My culinary skills were rudimentary. My wanderlust was legendary. I signed on for a journey from Newport, Rhode Island to Bermuda to deliver a wealthy man's yacht to warmer climes.
My father gave me a ride to the dock and escorted me to the boat. He hung out and chatted with the guys for about twenty minutes and then he was off to his own endeavors. It was, on the surface, all friendly banter, but I knew that he'd already written down all the basic details about these fellows. And I'd heard it all first hand.
So the second night out, when I felt a large beast crawl into my berth in the middle of the night, I told him in no uncertain terms that my father would contact his Methodist minister father in upstate New York pronto. And, alas, what a swift retreat!
Always carry a pen and pad. And ask the right questions in a superfluous manner.
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