...In a Little Canoe

I woke a couple of times through the early hours of the morning but ultimately didn’t roll out of bed until 7:15am. I had to get up and get moving because we had committed to having breakfast ready for dad, Glenn, and ourselves at 9am. I moved quickly to exercise, make coffee, and walk Ykraps. Once again, the morning sky was spectacularly blue and the temperature ideal. After some coffee time alone, Mindy made her way downstairs and joined me for some chitty chat. I didn’t spend too much time relaxing because I had to be back from my run before 9am. I readied and left before 8:10am It was beautiful outside. Again, I took my weekend route down Trabue, by the golf course and south on Hague Ave. It was a nice run. I saw my Dad at the corner of Hague and Trabue. He must have been on his way to my house. When I returned home, he was there, Glenn was up, and Mindy had breakfast all but ready. I took a quick shower to wash off the stink and sweat. When I came down stairs everything was ready. She made French toast with thick Italian bread and Maple bacon. It was fantastic! After we ate we shared stories on the deck. My dad invited all of us to Bobby’s for a 1pm birthday party for Tammy – her 11th. Glenn wanted to try my friend Diane’s flat bottom canoe in the pond. She had asked permission to leave it behind my shed for her convenience as well as for Mindy and I to use if we wanted. I wanted to give it a run too since after twelve years I have never been on the pond. Glenn was fully dressed complete with wallet, camera, and boots. I asked if he wanted to take any of that off and offered a swim suit. He declined. Dad and I went down to help him launch. Something told me to bring my camera. He got it fine, but once he pushed off and tried oaring away, he began shifting quickly left to right. Within a matter of seconds he was out of control. The next thing we knew, he was in the pond. I reminded him that he had his camera. After regaining his footing he struggled to hand me his camera. I could not stop from laughing and took a couple of pics. Glenn was not too amused at his own dilemma. Dad and I were still laughing as he removed himself form the pond. And of course he blamed the poor boat design. Understanding that it was a flat bottom canoe, I had a better idea of its handling limitations. His demise further raised my desire to do it myself. Wisely, I went in and put on a swim suit, water shoes, and life vest. Plus, I was careful to not be shifting my weight around. I successfully launched and quickly understood how easily it could tip. I kept myself low in the hull to help prevent any tipping side to side. I had a nice paddle around the circumference of the pond. It is much shallower than I expected but very tranquil despite the new homes built on the other side. When I returned, Glenn decided he would try it again. He too now better understood how to prevent and control the small canoe. After he returned, Mindy thought that she might give it a go. I gave her a few tips and she was off. She did real well managing the canoe as well as her balance. We continued to laugh at Glenn’s expense all afternoon. If you could’ve seen the look in his eyes! Dad and Glenn left for Bobby’s around 12:50pm. Mindy and I took a bit longer. But we had to stop at Target to pick-up a card and a few other things. We arrived at 1:35pm. We drove the BM’er too. At Bob’s we helped ring in Tammy’s 11th b-day. We had ice cream cake and sang happy b-day. We stayed until 3pm. We had to leave in order to be home for the return of the kids and to make it to Mindy’s sister’s by 4pm for her niece’s b-day party. Soon after we arrived home, Jim arrived with the kids. The kids were happy to be home and to see us. We wasted little time getting ready for the second b-day party. We were on the road to Jodi & Larry’s by 3:45pm. Sunday (cont.) Jody and Larry were celebrating their eldest daughter, Julie’s 24th birthday. They were hosting all of Jodi’s siblings, Gloria, and Larry’s brother Terry and his wife, Louis. They were serving cold subs, pasta salad, and macaroni salad. We were there for about 2 hours. After singing happy b-day and having some non-traditional b-day cake (cheese cake and brownies) we readied for departure. On our way home we stopped by Mindy’s first home that she bought on her own back in the 90’s. It’s located on the old Wee Bonnie golf course. It was one of the nicer homes in the division. At home all four of us walked Ykraps. When we got back Mindy readied the kids for bed and then I read the bedtime story. Once the kids were asleep, Mindy and I spent about thirty minutes on the deck. We stayed out until we could no longer take the mosquitoes. Inside I tuned into the Cincy Bengals’ game. At 9:30pm we headed up stairs to bed.