ode to the dock cart

It's just a small fiberglass tub with wheels, but it's truly like my mother's helper. Anyone who lives on a boat understands the necessity of a good dock cart. They wait for you like loyal dogs, lined up hopefully near the parking area or the foot of your docks.

The boy knows that whenever we park the car after errands, his job is to hop out and bring the cart to the car and help me load it up.  The things that end up in there vary so wildly... groceries, clothes, boat parts, pumpkins, tomato plants, driftwood, fabric, boxes of diapers, piles of books, bottles of wine.

And of course kids and dock carts are a natural match. They are turned over to build forts, they are filled up with sticks and stones, and they're the best ride around the marina.

Naia already declares "cart ride!" whenever she passes the red wheeled chariot. We've never owned a stroller (highly impractical for boat dwellers) so this is the closest either kid has come to having wheels.  Doug or I often take them for evening rolls around the marina. One evening after yoga I found him pacing the grounds with Naia wrapped in blankets, sound asleep in the cart like a little bundle.

So here's to our unsung helper the dock cart. May your wheels stay steady and your bottom stay clean.