Happy Anniversary

No, not our anniversary. But I'm getting ahead of the story. Today was a busy day, a difficult day, and a sad day.
A busy day, because we still have a lot of work to do before the boat is ready for cruising under sail. Today we had a marine surveyor look over all of the boat's systems and equipment so that we can try to get insurance for our bluewater crossing next spring. As usual, this survey adds more tasks that need to be done. Vicki needs the rest of the afternoon to run errands. We want to finish things up so we can move out of the slip and onto a mooring, saving about $30 a day.
A difficult day, because on top of the boat work I have a ton of papers to grade. I spent at least 8 hours on the computer today and this evening. My shoulders hurt.
A sad day, because of my mom's continuing illness. She's been in the hospital for almost 3 weeks now. We keep hoping for good news, but today we heard of more setbacks.
Finally, at the end of the day, something happened to make all our cares drop away. We went for a walk along the malecon, the walkway ringing the marina. Its cool in the evening, and the stars are out, so its always a nice way to finish the day. But on the way back, something special happened. We heard music, and it turned out to be a small, lively band playing cumbias under a small ramada overlooking the sportfishing dock. As we approached we could see a single couple dancing to the music. They beckoned us over and encouraged us to join them. They had the waiter bring us a couple of cognacs. The music is great - the band segues to Carlos Santana, Tito Puente, salsa, tejano. We're all dancing and laughing together. Timbales, guitar, bass, vocals all sound so nice under the stars. Anna is talking and flirting with the band while Ralph tells us about their lives in a small town 3 hours to the south. They're celebrating their first anniversary and a safe return home from a visit to the US. The band was playing in the restaurant where they had dinner, and they liked them so well they hired them to come and play music by the bay, just for them. After a few more songs its time to say goodnight to our new friends and head home.
This is the kind of magic that makes life wonderful. We head back to the boat refreshed and happy and ready for tomorrow.