Happy 7th Birthday Grandson Rocky!
I was up early – just before 645am. A glance outside revealed nothing but clear skies overhead. It was already warm and steamy, too, and seemingly a good day to be on the lake.
I made coffee, exercised, and took care of Frankie before heading out for my run. My goals was to leave for the lake by 1030am. I did my usual run working up one heck of sweat.
I wasn’t home three minute before my phone rang. It was dad asking if I needed any help with the boat. I shared that I didn’t plan to get the boat until we were on our way. He then shared that he was outside the house after making a trip to the tractor repair center settling up on his recent repair. He was eager to share the story regarding the repair, which turned out to be far less expensive than he anticipated – loose bolts on the wheels – nothing more. That made dad happy!
Before hanging up, he asked that we call as when we leave for the lake to closely synchronize our arrival times. I saw him pull away after we hung up. Meanwhile, it sounded like Mindy was up and in the shower. I took some time to ready some things for boating: tools, the wake board, keys, etc.
It was 930am when I headed for the shower. We left the house right on schedule (1030am) but still had to fetch the boat and then gas up. It was after 11am by the time we were fueled up at Thronton’s. I sent Bella inside to get a bag of ice. They wouldn’t sell it to her, something about her being too young.???
While Bella and I fueled the boat, Mindy and Jacob crossed the street for Tim Horton’s to fetch donuts. No donuts for me, thank you. Mindy phoned dad as we turned on Roberts towards the entrance ramp. She called Tommy once we were nearing Sawmill Rd. Tommy was already near the marina. He’d beat us there by several minutes.
As hoped, the boat ramp was sparely populated. Only one other boat putting in when we arrived but others started pulling in just after we arrived. The boat launch can often be a stressful event as it requires team work to pull off flawlessly. I could hear Mindy barking at me but about what I wasn’t sure. Turns out, I was bumping into the dock with the boat as I was backing further into the water to allow the boat to float off the trailer. No damage, thankfully. I guess I wasn’t exactly perpendicular to the water or parallel to the dock.
Mindy was quite testy at the dock, and certainly more so than any other time. But then again, she’s been like that for the past week or so. She got really angry after I shared my best guess at the weight we’d have aboard the boat with all seven of us. For rounding purposes only I placed her at 150lbs. She wasn’t pleased. In fact, as my dad walked down the dock she asked if she could take his minivan home. Wasn’t sure if she was serious or not. She wouldn’t let the weight comment drop, however. Soon we were out on the lake after a successful launch. And thankfully, everything seemed to calm.
After a quick drive up by the camp beach I stopped the boat and readied to give wake boarding a try. I was eager! Dad, by design, took over the helm. I must’ve tried five or six times to get up on the wakeboard unsuccessfully. Seemed even harder than slalom skiing. I’m quite sure I wasn’t doing something right, but having no one to demonstrate or role model, I had no choice but to try what I already know. The drag created by the boards large surface proved too much. The rope was yanked form my hands each time.
After try six I hung it up and asked for the skies.
I skied for about 5-10 minutes, or until I busted my butt crossing the wake. I was careful not to push it too hard, not wanting to subject myself to injury. Mindy jumped in to ski after me. She skied two or three times before hanging it up. With no one else interested in tubing, skiing, or wakeboarding, we headed north of Cheshire Rd to the boat swim area.
There weren’t anymore than three or four other boats back there all day. We cruised near the back of the cove leaving a good 200 yards between us and nearest boat already anchored. We hung out back there for a good three hours. Everybody got in save for Dad and Wally. Actually, though, Wally got in briefly with me and then with Tommy. He didn’t like it, though.
Mindy and Jacob got into it a few times. Jacob had at least one time out for mouthing off. Of all days, this was not the day to test Mindy – no sir! At one point she spanked him with her hand in front of the rest of us. I worried that I might be next.
We got out most of our water toys: the swimway rafts, the inflatable basketball hoop and ball, the football, and tube. I eventually put up the rarely used bimini top up for dad, so he wouldn’t have to hold an umbrella over his head all afternoon.
I’m guessing it was after 3pm when we pulled out of the swim cove. It took a while to prepare the boat and stow our toys for travel. Bella tubed out of the cove and agreed to keep tubing once out. I was very careful not to do anything to break her spirits. She ended up tubing for about 30 minutes in total – the first time in a couple of years. Said she loved it! I was a little disappointed that we still couldn’t get Jacob to go for it, nothing, no tubing, no skiing, no boarding.
We cruised around the lake for another 20 minutes before asking if everyone had their fill. My question was met with a resounding yes. Everyone was ready to go. It was about 430pm best guess.
I turned the helm over to dad to guide into the courtesy dock thinking he’d be more proficient than Mindy. I pointed out the stiff breeze blowing in from the SE and collectively we decided to use the southern side of the dock. Dad struggled mightily to get us close. I was surprised. Even seemed confused what he should do at times. I was bewildered given dad’s knack for such things past. I gave instructions on what to do to get us closer which ultimately worked.
I had a wide open dock for pulling the boat out. For that I was grateful. I saw that dad gave way to Mindy to pull it onto the trailer. We were out without incident and quickly & efficiently readied the boat for home, wiping it down, stowing the toys, and replacing the cover and tie down straps. We hit the road for home around 525pm after bidding Dad, Tommy, and Wally farewell. We offered to celebrate Tommy’s birthday at Barley’s should he elect to join us later. He was noncommittal having Wally and all.
Instead of storage, I decided to take the boat home thinking I might do a little work on it Saturday. We made good time, arriving around 6pm. While Mindy headed off to the shower I watered the flowers on the deck. They were looking stressed after two days of extra hot sunshine.
Mindy and I wore our Yellow Springs tie-die t-shirts and black shorts. We matched! The four of us left the house for Barley’s around 730pm. The lot was pretty full, but not quite to capacity. Inside we spotted Steve W. sitting with Scott & Lynda P. at the bar. Hadn’t seen Steve in quite a while. And finally, after a year of unemployment, Steve found a new working for Ohio Equities/AEP. Sounds like a good one too. Very happy for him! He was kidded a number of times about being a tax payer again.
The kids and Mindy ordered food promptly. I did not. In fact, I drank only two beers before Mindy and the kids asked to leave. As much as I wanted to stay longer, I caved. I picked up the tab too. It was only 920pm.
Like we do most Friday’s, we walked down to see Kenny and Chrissy soon after we arrived home. They were just about to throw a frozen pizza in the oven. I suggested they throw it back in the freezer and order one from Sporano’s, my treat. They took me up on the offer, but when it arrived they wouldn’t let me pay. I was hungry having not eaten anything of substance since lunch on the boat. I ate only two pieces of pizza and drank two more beers – CBC IPA.
We headed home before 11pm. Mindy and I kept Frankie out to go to the bathroom before heading inside. We headed to bed after I checked the Reds score. They won.
I was up early – just before 645am. A glance outside revealed nothing but clear skies overhead. It was already warm and steamy, too, and seemingly a good day to be on the lake.
I made coffee, exercised, and took care of Frankie before heading out for my run. My goals was to leave for the lake by 1030am. I did my usual run working up one heck of sweat.
I wasn’t home three minute before my phone rang. It was dad asking if I needed any help with the boat. I shared that I didn’t plan to get the boat until we were on our way. He then shared that he was outside the house after making a trip to the tractor repair center settling up on his recent repair. He was eager to share the story regarding the repair, which turned out to be far less expensive than he anticipated – loose bolts on the wheels – nothing more. That made dad happy!
Before hanging up, he asked that we call as when we leave for the lake to closely synchronize our arrival times. I saw him pull away after we hung up. Meanwhile, it sounded like Mindy was up and in the shower. I took some time to ready some things for boating: tools, the wake board, keys, etc.
It was 930am when I headed for the shower. We left the house right on schedule (1030am) but still had to fetch the boat and then gas up. It was after 11am by the time we were fueled up at Thronton’s. I sent Bella inside to get a bag of ice. They wouldn’t sell it to her, something about her being too young.???
While Bella and I fueled the boat, Mindy and Jacob crossed the street for Tim Horton’s to fetch donuts. No donuts for me, thank you. Mindy phoned dad as we turned on Roberts towards the entrance ramp. She called Tommy once we were nearing Sawmill Rd. Tommy was already near the marina. He’d beat us there by several minutes.
As hoped, the boat ramp was sparely populated. Only one other boat putting in when we arrived but others started pulling in just after we arrived. The boat launch can often be a stressful event as it requires team work to pull off flawlessly. I could hear Mindy barking at me but about what I wasn’t sure. Turns out, I was bumping into the dock with the boat as I was backing further into the water to allow the boat to float off the trailer. No damage, thankfully. I guess I wasn’t exactly perpendicular to the water or parallel to the dock.
Mindy was quite testy at the dock, and certainly more so than any other time. But then again, she’s been like that for the past week or so. She got really angry after I shared my best guess at the weight we’d have aboard the boat with all seven of us. For rounding purposes only I placed her at 150lbs. She wasn’t pleased. In fact, as my dad walked down the dock she asked if she could take his minivan home. Wasn’t sure if she was serious or not. She wouldn’t let the weight comment drop, however. Soon we were out on the lake after a successful launch. And thankfully, everything seemed to calm.
After a quick drive up by the camp beach I stopped the boat and readied to give wake boarding a try. I was eager! Dad, by design, took over the helm. I must’ve tried five or six times to get up on the wakeboard unsuccessfully. Seemed even harder than slalom skiing. I’m quite sure I wasn’t doing something right, but having no one to demonstrate or role model, I had no choice but to try what I already know. The drag created by the boards large surface proved too much. The rope was yanked form my hands each time.
After try six I hung it up and asked for the skies.
I skied for about 5-10 minutes, or until I busted my butt crossing the wake. I was careful not to push it too hard, not wanting to subject myself to injury. Mindy jumped in to ski after me. She skied two or three times before hanging it up. With no one else interested in tubing, skiing, or wakeboarding, we headed north of Cheshire Rd to the boat swim area.
There weren’t anymore than three or four other boats back there all day. We cruised near the back of the cove leaving a good 200 yards between us and nearest boat already anchored. We hung out back there for a good three hours. Everybody got in save for Dad and Wally. Actually, though, Wally got in briefly with me and then with Tommy. He didn’t like it, though.
Mindy and Jacob got into it a few times. Jacob had at least one time out for mouthing off. Of all days, this was not the day to test Mindy – no sir! At one point she spanked him with her hand in front of the rest of us. I worried that I might be next.
We got out most of our water toys: the swimway rafts, the inflatable basketball hoop and ball, the football, and tube. I eventually put up the rarely used bimini top up for dad, so he wouldn’t have to hold an umbrella over his head all afternoon.
I’m guessing it was after 3pm when we pulled out of the swim cove. It took a while to prepare the boat and stow our toys for travel. Bella tubed out of the cove and agreed to keep tubing once out. I was very careful not to do anything to break her spirits. She ended up tubing for about 30 minutes in total – the first time in a couple of years. Said she loved it! I was a little disappointed that we still couldn’t get Jacob to go for it, nothing, no tubing, no skiing, no boarding.
We cruised around the lake for another 20 minutes before asking if everyone had their fill. My question was met with a resounding yes. Everyone was ready to go. It was about 430pm best guess.
I turned the helm over to dad to guide into the courtesy dock thinking he’d be more proficient than Mindy. I pointed out the stiff breeze blowing in from the SE and collectively we decided to use the southern side of the dock. Dad struggled mightily to get us close. I was surprised. Even seemed confused what he should do at times. I was bewildered given dad’s knack for such things past. I gave instructions on what to do to get us closer which ultimately worked.
I had a wide open dock for pulling the boat out. For that I was grateful. I saw that dad gave way to Mindy to pull it onto the trailer. We were out without incident and quickly & efficiently readied the boat for home, wiping it down, stowing the toys, and replacing the cover and tie down straps. We hit the road for home around 525pm after bidding Dad, Tommy, and Wally farewell. We offered to celebrate Tommy’s birthday at Barley’s should he elect to join us later. He was noncommittal having Wally and all.
Instead of storage, I decided to take the boat home thinking I might do a little work on it Saturday. We made good time, arriving around 6pm. While Mindy headed off to the shower I watered the flowers on the deck. They were looking stressed after two days of extra hot sunshine.
Mindy and I wore our Yellow Springs tie-die t-shirts and black shorts. We matched! The four of us left the house for Barley’s around 730pm. The lot was pretty full, but not quite to capacity. Inside we spotted Steve W. sitting with Scott & Lynda P. at the bar. Hadn’t seen Steve in quite a while. And finally, after a year of unemployment, Steve found a new working for Ohio Equities/AEP. Sounds like a good one too. Very happy for him! He was kidded a number of times about being a tax payer again.
The kids and Mindy ordered food promptly. I did not. In fact, I drank only two beers before Mindy and the kids asked to leave. As much as I wanted to stay longer, I caved. I picked up the tab too. It was only 920pm.
Like we do most Friday’s, we walked down to see Kenny and Chrissy soon after we arrived home. They were just about to throw a frozen pizza in the oven. I suggested they throw it back in the freezer and order one from Sporano’s, my treat. They took me up on the offer, but when it arrived they wouldn’t let me pay. I was hungry having not eaten anything of substance since lunch on the boat. I ate only two pieces of pizza and drank two more beers – CBC IPA.
We headed home before 11pm. Mindy and I kept Frankie out to go to the bathroom before heading inside. We headed to bed after I checked the Reds score. They won.
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