Slicing into the Silence

I hoped to be leaving for the lake by no later than 10:30am. Working backwards from there, I needed to be up before 7:00am to comfortably carry-on with my routine without feeling rushed. Still a little tired, I pulled myself from bed at 6:45am. But once I had coffee going and my exercises underway I felt terrific. The weather looked as good as I could’ve hoped for. The sky was sunny and blue and the temperature heading for the low 80s. I fooled around the house a little longer than I should’ve before heading out for my run. I didn’t head out until almost 9:30am. And while I was out, Mindy made a big breakfast. You might say we were taking our dear old time. I went ahead and ran four miles. It was a gorgeous morning for it. By the time that breakfast was behind us, and everything was packed and ready for the lake, it was nearly 11am. Now, being on the lake by noon was in jeopardy. We phoned my Dad while in route to the Boat Storage. Dad opted out. No reason given. By the time we attached the boat and gassed it up at Mill Run it was 11:35am. We arrived at the lake by 12:10pm. It was a lovely early afternoon with next to no dock traffic. For that we were thankful. Friday’s are often busy. The put-in went smoothly. We were off and running in no time at all. As we often do, we took a relaxing lap around the south lake before moving forward with an agenda. I thought we were going to tube first but the kids asked to go to the swim cove before tubing. I agreed, but wondered quietly if they had both chickened out. We were one of only three or four boats in the cove. As we often do, we cruised to the even more secluded back half. The kids were very excited about getting out of the boat and into the tube and ultimately into the water. While they began having fun, I began to worry that we might be making a bit too much noise for the others setting quietly back in the cove. When it’s empty, or darn near, every word, every noise echoes through the gorge loudly. In fact, Mindy & I have left the cove times past to avoid the noise from reveling boaters. I must’ve asked the kids four or five times to keep it down, especially the unnecessary exchanges, complaints, and tattling. I sensed that Mindy felt I was a bit over the top. Now I ask you, when am I ever over the top? For sure, kids are going to make noise, and I understand that. Bur from my perspective, they were way over the top noisy. The louder they were the more I wanted peace and quiet. More importantly, I didn’t want to be viewed as an inconsiderate boater to the others that were already back there enjoying the quiet, much like Mindy and I had the prior week. We pulled out of the cove around 2:30pm and headed out to the main lake for some tubing. Bella steered for a while (scary). Jacob went first as soon as we exited the swim cove. I was careful not to give him to rough a ride right out of the shoot. Last year we might’ve been too quick to goose it causing him to stop tubing early summer. This year he did amazingly better. We drug him around for a good 10-15 minutes before he leaped off from being tired. Mindy & Bella were next. Bella didn’t want to go alone. Bella was essentially riding under Mindy. We had just gotten underway when Bella asked for me to cut. Both kids have the cut sign down pat! Bella got out crying that she was gonna fly away. Much to my surprise, Mindy chose to stay in wanting to tube on her own. Her only request was that I take it somewhat easy. Sure honey! I took it as easy as practical, but even still, we hit a few choppy spots where she got bounced around pretty good. After five minutes or so she gave the cut signal. What? You want to go that way – faster? J Jacob chose to go once more now that he was in the groove. This time we added a few quick zig-zags to throw him from side to side. Unlike last year, he seemed to dig it. He even tried standing on his knees. He wore down somewhat quickly. After tubing we headed back under the Cheshire Rd bridge and to the south end of the lake. We must’ve did another 30 minutes of casual boating. Around 4pm we decided to call it a day and headed back towards the dock. There were a few boats getting in or out causing a little problem but nothing we hadn’t managed through past. Mindy dropped me at the dock and went back out until it was my turn in line with the trailer. The pull-out went fairly smooth. We took about 20 minutes to towel it down and prep it for travel up in the lot. Unlike last week, there didn’t appear to be any immediate threat of rain moving in. Despite it being the beginning of Friday rush hour, the drive home went pretty well. We were back at storage by 5:15pm and home by 5:45pm. We decided on the drive home that we would visit Barley’s for dinner, but only after showers. By the time that we unloaded our gear, walked Ykraps, showered and dressed, it was 6:30pm. Last second, I grabbed an empty growler in hopes of some take-out Droughtfire. There were a handful of familiar faces barside when we arrived – Scott, Linda, & Mark. It wasn’t all that crowded. The kids settled in at one of the nearby barside tables while I bellied up to the bar to order a Droughtfire. Imagine my response when Diedra said they were all out. What! I was stumbling for another selection after having my heart set on a Droughtfire. I just couldn’t decide and even moaned a little bit. Some unfamiliar customer next to me quipped that perhaps I should go elsewhere. Diedra, apparently joking, seconded the motion. I wasn’t pleased – at all! I ended up ordering a guest IPA. It was just OK. As usual, Mindy was quick to want to order food. Me, I wanted to savor my first beer before ordering food. She went ahead and ordered right away anyhow. No matter what I did, said, or thought, didn’t seem to matter. I was truly out of sync with the universe. Suddenly, I didn’t want to be there. I would’ve been better served staying home. Jacob and I planned to share 20 wings – 10 Gates of Hell & 10 K.C. barbeque. We also planned to share some plain fries, but somebody ordered them with cheese even against my suggestion not. After our food arrived Mindy disappeared somewhere up near or at the bar. I stood close by the kids eating wings. The wings were well below par. And the Gates of Hell weren’t Gates of Hell at all. I eventually let them know of the mistake. They promptly corrected the problem and brought another 10 Gates of Hell. This time they weren’t cooked like I like them. Geesh! This wasn’t a banner Barley’s visit. And truth be told, I really didn’t want to be there. To add insult to injury, Mindy was acting a little distant too. Mindy picked up the check after getting some of our food comp’d. Had I picked up the check, this might’ve been the first time I left without leaving a tip. Not sure if Mindy did or not. I didn’t bother filling my growler. Let’s Recap, shall we? Out of my favorite beer, eating before ready, wife chilly, wrong food, and not cooked to order. The drive home was quick, chilly, and quiet. No one was in a particularly good mood. However, the kids were eager to get home and seek out the neighbors for some backyard playtime. Once at home everyone went the separate ways. Not a good night.