I give in...

December 6, 2019, West Newbury, MA — I said I wasn't going to write about packing but I’m up to my ears in options, and the bed is so crowded I can’t possibly sleep in it. So I’m stalling and writing about it instead of doing it. My World Cruise friend Karen says her sister used to ‘audition clothes’ as she did her packing. That’s about right.

I wanted you all to meet Lucas. Last two cruises, his uncle Tommy (né Hilfiger) and great blue uncle Sammy (begat at Sammy’s Soft Goods Co, Est. 1926) were my big guys, but I really don’t need 100+ pounds of clothes for 24 days. And I’m paying Jet Blue by the bag. Sammy’s handle was broken by a rough roustabout at luggage retrieval on the pier in Greenwich last May; he survived, but he really is too large for this trip.

So Tommy’s new nephew Lucas will be joining me. In preparation for the trip, there was a ceremony in my front hall: Uncle Tommy welcomed L'il Lucas into the Luggage Family and gave him his ‘wings,’ the red item with a Viking ship on it. Lucas is very proud of his weight, only 5.2. I told him he has to lose all his signage — he looks like a Boy Scout with all those badges. Right now, they are both still empty. Okay... back to work. #