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Another Year Older
Zeke Life turns 1, and we’re starting our 2nd season cruising Lake Michigan! Kara and I really enjoyed this past year. There were ups and downs, highs and lows … We struggled, failed, survived, succeeded and grew a ton as cruisers adventuring on the Great Lakes.
I feel so blessed to be able to live in the midwest and experience the beauty and power of the Great Lakes – specifically Lake Michigan.
And I’m looking forward to another season where we highlight our sailing journey and share our midwest home with you – including some of the nature, communities and people in the region.
Learning Along the Way
It’s hard to believe that last year at this time, we were just beginning our cruising life on SV Zeke E Boy – we didn’t know what we didn’t know … and we didn’t know much!
We delivered her from northern Lake Huron to southwest Lake Michigan. The trip was terrifying and humbling, but we survived it. And I believe it has made us better by experiencing everything that happened.
It uncovered weaknesses in our boat that needed immediate attention as well as items for long term planning. It exposed weaknesses in ourselves that needed immediate attention and things we can learn and grow in over time.
Thanks for your ❤️
SV Zeke E Boy has received several project updates and upgrades; she is more prepared this year, which makes her even more enjoyable to be on. Of course, my wish list and project list never ends, and we’ll likely need to keep replacing maintenance items over and over. But our hope is that if we take care of the boat, she’ll take care of us!
We love telling our stories with you. And we are so grateful for your encouragement and support as well as sharing your love of the Great Lakes!
Every year, we get another year older – time kinda works that way – we can’t stop it … We are always moving and changing. It may look a little different when we are young vs. when we get older – it feels like things are moving faster and faster every year. Zeke Life has pushed Kara and I both to grow in ways we didn’t expect, and we’re learning to be more grateful for each moment – good and hard.
Being Curious 🐕
One of our values at Zeke Life is to be cautiously curious (like Zeke), and I’m continuing to learn more about technology, sailing, the Great Lakes and myself. But I’m also learning to communicate better, forgiving each other, being kind and having a great attitude – especially in the difficult moments. This is hard to quantify, but provides much more substance + character growth than any outward, tangible achievement.
The future is unknown. I don’t know if we will be able to cruise more than last year, I can’t predict what issues will come up or what problems I’ll need to solve. But I’ll make the effort to grow and see where it takes me. I look forward to being another year older and experiencing another year together with you on the Great Lakes! THANK YOU for being with us on this adventure!
Let us know what you think
As we prepare for a new season of sailing, exploring towns around the Great Lakes, eating good food along the way, and sharing our experiences – we want to hear from you! How do you embrace growing older? What life lessons are you learning? Please participate in the comments.
– Kyle from Zeke Life
Live like Zeke
You’re such a good boy!
Hi, Kyle and Kara. Sounds like you’re starting the season with a fun time in Chicago. What did you do there? I noticed some of the pictures in your newsletter didn’t come through. Maybe that’s just a setting on my phone? Also, the link to the growing older article didn’t work but I backed out and got it to open via the main newsletter area. Have a fun June! My travel money is going into a new patio door.
Thanks Marla – appreciate the heads up … there’s definitely a setting on your phone, but we’ve had a little trouble with our website staying up lately, so we’re investigating it further.
Kyle is planning to write another blog about what we did in Chicago, but we had a blast! We had beautiful weather so we were able to walk around the city near Grant Park and the museums. I found a happy hour drink spot that featured lots of important looking people 🙂 so it was fun to people watch! The next day we walked the opposite path to Navy Pier and along the riverwalk. Of course no visit to Chicago is complete without deep dish pizza, we stopped at Lou Malnati’s – YUM!
Good luck with the door – we’re in the process of installing our screen door (that we had for 2 years!) and we found out we’re missing a part 🙁 … oh the joys of home ownership! 👍