Pink Weekends

I've been super busy lately which leaves me little time for my usual Deep Thoughts. Last weekend, for example, my gallery party was Friday night. Then, I was on the water for a very long day on Saturday. Saturday night, we cooked dinner and passed out. My friends went out Saturday night to see one of our favorite bands. Sleeping late at least one weekend morning is important to me; that was Sunday.

I get up at 6 on workdays. So, I can't very well go out with my friends to hear music (for example) on school nights. But live music cleanses my soul and makes my life worth living. On the other hand, so does sailing... and hiking... and riding my bike. With only 2 weekend days and only so much energy, which do I choose?

It seems a cryin' shame to have to choose. It's not as easy as deciding that Friday we go out. Saturday I sleep in. Sunday I do something active and outdoors all day. The band I want to see isn't always playing on Friday night. And the cruise I want to do isn't always planned for Sunday; they're usually planned for Saturday in fact. I only have so much control over when the things I want to do take place. So, I strike a constant balance, every week, weighing my options.

Speaking of striking a balance, I noticed something on the cruise on saturday about sailing club women. They wear a lot of pink. I wear a lot of pink too. I mentioned this to my fellow sailors (all men) and Mark suggested that it was compensation. It's a male dominated sport (like most), but maybe there's more to it than that....

Malu said:
"...after many years of teaching I notice that men and women have some differences in how we tend to do things in boats. We have a lot to learn from one another. One chief difference is that women have to think about how we're going to do things a little more beforehand because we save energy this way.

"Men have longer torsos & more upper body strength, women have longer legs & less muscle mass. If a woman wants to do something physically demanding in a boat requiring upper body strength, she'll expend less energy if she uses the right body mechanics. Would you like to learn to do a man overboard retrieval in 3 easy steps with almost no effort?

"You could call it being lazy, I call it being clever."

Another form of compensation? Perhaps. Maybe there's a reason for the pink. For now, I just like it.