Missing Who?

Being in South Florida makes me miss my dad. For those of you that don't know, my dad is alternately known as Pop to me, Poppy to Porter and Jack, Harry Who to some of his closest friends, Harry Too to his family, and Mr. Peterson to all of my childhood friends. His was the name and inspiration behind Who's Hall at the High Mountain Institute.  Pop and Madeleine typically spent three or more months in Jupiter, just north of West of Palm, where they had a condo on the 5th floor, overlooking the ocean.

As we were sailing across the straits of Florida, we could see the high rises that line the beaches from Miami to Palm Beach. I could imagine Pop waiting for us. He would be looking through his telescope, scanning the horizon for his first sight of Sila. I can imagine that he would check too often to start and that ultimately Mado would be the one to actually spot us coming. And then he would most certainly drive along a parallel road as we worked our way into the IntraCoastal Waterway, irritating the cars behind him who wanted to go faster. 

I think of Pop every day on this adventure. He taught me how to sail a sunfish on Lake Angelus. He encouraged me to participate in the Sunday races there and he shared my excitement when I finally beat Mr. Polhemus (forgive me if I spelled his name wrong) on a day with very light winds. He and my mom took me on my first cruising experiences in Maine and on the Great Lakes. In recent years, summer phone calls with him would often include detailed descriptions of his evening sail on Toos-N-Takk. Kevin and I talked about how we can each still hear Pop's voice saying "you're light" whenever we steer the boat too close to the wind for the trim of the sails. But I have not missed him any more than I did last week as we sailed into Florida. It would be a lot more fun to be here if he were here too. - Molly

This photo of me and Pop was taken while sailing in Somes Sound, Maine, on Leda when I was 7 months pregnant with Porter. Leda belonged to Bob Apthorp, a long-time friend of the Barnes Family.

 

This is one of my favorite pictures of Pop and Mado, taken on the same day in Maine.

Pop and his boat, Toos-N-Takk on a trailer in northern Michigan