The Marina Dock Newsletter APRIL 2007
Dear Marina Dock Members
and Patrons:
Thank you one and all for your generous support last month,
we had a number of people jump in to the fray and help us out
financially, thereby enabling us to achieve the projects we
set out to accomplish in March. The old 80/20 rule is very much
in evidence, that is eighty percent of our donations come from
twenty percent of our members, but we are not complaining we
are grateful for all donations. We would however like to see
more people in the mix; it would make life easier for everyone
concerned, if we could increase the number of people who donate.
Every time consumer items, especially gasoline, soars into the
outer stratosphere, we think about raising our room rents and
membership dues, but so far we have not done so, on the contrary
since we came into existence as the Marina Dock in 2000, we
have actually lowered our rents to 12 step groups. This is something
one needs to be aware of when putting extra money in the basket;
typically that extra donation goes to the groups for disbursement
and not to the Marina Dock. If you want to contribute to the
Marina Dock write a check or donate cash or use your credit
card at the counter. It is good that more groups are now donating
money to their respective Central Offices. That is how it should
be in times of plentitude; all we ask is that the groups meet
their 7th tradition requirement by first paying their rent.
On the topic of service, AA central Office is conducting ongoing
workshops throughout the summer on various service commitments;
this is something we strongly recommend for all Marina Dock
AA Secretaries to attend, a well-informed "group secretary"
is the best defense against the abuse of AA traditions and principles.
Happy Easter
I am sure you are
all glad to see the last of winter; Easter is one of my favorite
times of the year. The downside being it coincides with allergy
season, and like the majority of people I could live without
the sneezing, watery eyes, and puffiness associated with hay
fever. After twenty-five years and countless remedies, I decided
exercise and diet are the best remedies for allergies period.
The Tradition of
Easter
As with almost all
"Christian" holidays, Easter has been secularized
and commercialized. The dichotomous nature of Easter and its
symbols, however, is not necessarily a modern fabrication. Since
its conception as a holy celebration in the second century,
Easter has had its non-religious side. In fact, Easter was originally
a pagan festival. The ancient Saxons celebrated the return of
spring with an uproarious festival commemorating their goddess
of offspring and of springtime, Eastre. When the second-century
Christian missionaries encountered the tribes of the north with
their pagan celebrations, they attempted to convert them to
Christianity. They did so, however, in a clandestine manner.
It would have been suicide for the very early Christian converts
to celebrate their holy days with observances that did not coincide
with celebrations that already existed. To save lives, the missionaries
cleverly decided to spread their religious message slowly throughout
the populations by allowing them to continue to celebrate pagan
feasts, but to do so in a Christian manner.
As it happened, the
pagan festival of Eastre occurred at the same time of year as
the Christian observance of the Resurrection of Christ. It made
sense, therefore, to alter the festival itself, to make it a
Christian celebration as converts were slowly won over. The
early name, Eastre, was eventually changed to its modern
spelling, Easter.
A salty old dry dock
warrior
21 years ago found
me walking through the blue-framed doors of the then Dry Dock,
six years sober, an Englishman "taking a trip not taking
a trip," and by freak occurrence living on Fillmore and
Greenwich. I spent most of the Eighties in San Francisco,
and left my heart, naturally, in that small cluster of smoky
rooms, guzzling down coffee and rocking in the 89 earthquake.
Early memories of renting movies with Gary and sitting all
night sometimes watching Days of Wine and Roses on a huge
TV. Gary had a blonde girlfriend and the keys to the Dock,
and likes to talk about modern art. Karl, a seasoned old veteran
of the wine country, 6th and Harrison, spent most of the day
in meetings or lying underneath his beloved Cadillac tuning
and cleaning it, but never going anywhere. "Spiritual
Rose" who claimed to be from the Piaties performed healings
and talked to the Plants. David, apparently the head honcho,
hovered around occasionally, hmmming and harrrring, and various
doubtful characters ladled out the coffee and didn’t
seem too worried if you paid or not; one of then was Irish
Tony-whatever happened to That Dude?
Sometimes addictive
runs of meetings, lasting even weeks, coming out of a late
Sunday one, and meeting myself arriving on Monday morning.
I meet Jay Walker, by his own admission the sexiest man in
the world, (there goes HIS anonymity), we spend days outside
smoking and I become his sponsor. He reads my latest Step
Four and decides he needs a new sponsor. Hmm. Be as honest
as you can, don’t make another sex-addict jealous. Irish
Tony gives me a huge wad of typing called a step four guide.
Thanks mate. I lost it somewhere.
I dabble in ACA,
SLA, Smokers Anonymous; I meet a girl who is in thirteen 12step
programmes, so here comes that thirteenth step again. I swap
salacious confessions with "Lawrence of America,"
I believe he was about 106 when he finally called it a day,
I’m glad not to be the only guilt-ridden sober lothario.
I’m a wriggling mess of addictive dysfunction and sometimes
it feels good. Time passes, I get better, then sometimes worse.
I decided to shift
my personality defects back to England. I’m 27 years
sober next August. I founded a depression fellowship here,
four years ago, and play and teach piano. I learned the meaning
of fellowship behind those blue doors in the Marina. A natural
loner, and the man who put the word Armageddon into relationship,
(now spelt RelArmageddontionship) I learned how to relate
to the enemy: people.
In between coffee
and cigarettes I pause to reflect on my non-addictive personality.
Getting better now, I never smoke between cigarettes. I find
the Marina Dock on the Internet the other day, and see Tony’s
name. Of all the gin-joints in all the world - and the laughter
and warmth of those sunny days comes back, and I know now
for sure I will be back. I’m easy to recognise, I laugh
a lot, and drink coffee with my left, smoke with my right.
Be there for me,
as you were back then, you have the finest oasis in the world,
and from Frank Brennan to that new guy over in the corner,
I love you all, and Dry Dock, I mean Love. (Soaring violin
music). David put a legend in town when he opened the Dock.
It saved this English ass on many a day, believe me, and I’ve
seen some 18 carat Higher Power in action within those walls
and by the sacred eyes of Bill Wilson there’s no place
that gives more weight to the good ole words "Keep Coming
Back, it works." If it worked for me, it will work for
anybody. One last thought:
I LOVE YER!
English Mike, mikep12349
at yahoo.co.uk
Finally...
I have to admit that
is a tough act to follow, Mike was a big part of the early Dry
Dock years, he helped a lot of people, and he was always himself,
never one to put a gloss on things. He told me one time he drank
fifty-seven cups of coffee a day, if we had a few Mikes around
today we would put Starbucks out of business. I love this job,
especially when someone from the past surfaces and reminds one
of what it used to be like. I closing I need to make amends
for a bad joke, I mentioned in jest, that I had a heart attack
and I had to go to hospital, It was actually hypertension, related
to stress and anxiety, caused by lack of sleep, exercise, and
unhealthy eating habits. I have since dropped some weight, I
walk 50 blocks every other day, lift light to medium weights
on the days I don’t walk, I drink copious amounts of olive-
oil, I eat tuna, halibut, salads and sardines and my blood pressure
and cholesterol have dropped dramatically. My doctor is impressed;
she said I now need a vacation. That will not happen anytime
soon, unless we have a windfall, and that is out of my hands,
my greater responsibility is to the people who make my life
worth living.
Yours, with Gratitude
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