Lagniappe

Strake #3 is nearing completion.  I have yet to glue the aftmost section on the port side, which I plan to do tomorrow.  One more plank, and we will have reached the waterline (and, by the way, the halfway point in the planking marathon.)  The work is going well, and I am reasonably pleased with the results, and quite happy with the improvements I am seeing with each successive plank.  I am greatly enjoying the ride, and with regular reminders to self, I have been fairly successful at repressing my tendency to want to keep to a schedule, as well as the urge to complete tasks.

On the subject of enjoying the ride, I made a fortuitous find while reading Rising Tide, by John M. Barry, a fascinating book about the Mississippi River flood of 1927.  The author makes use of a word which was new to me, "lagniappe."  Checking Merriam Webster online, I found it defined as:  "something given or obtained gratuitously or by way of good measure," and the pronunciation to be "LAN-yap."  Lagniappe is used almost exclusively in New Orleans and the immediately surrounding area.  Wikipedia says:

"The word entered English from Louisiana French, in turn derived from the American Spanish phrase la ñapa ('something that is added' ). The term has been traced back to the Quechua word yapay ('to increase; to add'). "

Be that as it may, it immediately occurred to me that Lagniappe is a providential finding for me, in my somewhat passive quest to pick name for my Grey Seal to be.  As I have confessed, I am building this boat as an enjoyable way to occupy my retirement hours.  I have no great urge to own a boat, but I guess I shall make use of it if I finish it.  As noted above, I am indeed enjoying the ride; in fact I am enjoying it more each week as I become more comfortable with the process, and more confident in my abilities.  At such time as I have finished, the boat will truly be  "something given or obtained gratuitously or by way of good measure," as a consequence of having done what I initially set out to do.  

Lagniappe, it will be.