No. 17: Boating and Sunshine
September 9th 2008 02:11
On the water road
Those of you who read this post regularly will recognize the parallels between the physical highways we travel, and the mental roads we traverse daily. Keeping alive and sane while navigating both is the challenge we face.
Let us admit it -- life can bless us or it can kick us in the butt. It is doubtful anyone of us will make it through this whole existence unscathed. Because of all the trials and tribulations, many of us get stressed, anxious, frightened and need a break as least sometime.
It had been about three years since my wife and I had gone boating for a day.This past weekend we got the chance to re-experience this wonderful pleasure. Our "second son," as we call him, brought his 25 ft. Baja from about 200 miles away just to help us release some stress. One of his best friends and his girlfriend joined us over the weekend with their 20' open fisherman.
Yep, we are 61 and it shows!
We all met on the Winter Haven, Florida "Chain of Lakes" This is a picturesque series of 13 lakes interconnected by canals, lined with magnificent homes and exotic, tropical landscaping.
The weather was beautiful and sunny, since a hurricane, which was off the Southeastern U.S. coastline, had sucked all the moisture into it, leaving us with dry, breezy weather -- the kind of weather we dream about on cold, rainy February days elsewhere. Several times, I just looked up into the blue sky thinking how blessed we were, even if for just a day.
We all stripped down to swimsuits and covered ourselves with SPF 50 sunscreen so thickly that for a moment we looked as though we could have knocked over the milk pail and soaked ourselves from head to toe.
We traveled to the northernmost lake in the chain observing the seaplane airport, located on the shore, and thought how wonderful it would be to have one of the homes along the opposite shoreline, where the residents had their own planes for work or fun. We all knew this was above our pay grade, but we could dream anyway.
I thought to myself, "If my rich uncle ever gets out of the poor house," maybe he will help us get one of these.
From the northernmost body of water, all through the many lakes and canals, we traveled southward to Lake Eloise where a 72-year-old amusement park, known as "Cypress Gardens" is located. We parked the boat onto a windbreaker made of old automobile tires while we watched one of the daily water skiing shows. The performers were all experts and made their stunts look so easy. They were jumping over ramps while flipping upside down and making pyramids of several skiers as they plowed the waters in front of us. We knew they were difficult activities and appreciated them all the more since we have done some simpler water skiing occasionally.
From there, we did some high-speed cruising over more lakes, then down through some final canals, ending up in what was a secluded cove just five years ago, but is now surrounded by large homes. This particular lake is spring fed, so the water was clear, cooler, and extremely inviting. We could not resist. We dropped the anchors so the wind would not blow the boats away from us, and all started diving off the boats one by one.
Splash! Splash! We hit the water only to have the expected shock of cold water engulfing our bodies. Yeeooow! What fun! We were diving under the boats, stroking across the water, floating on our backs or just sitting on life preservers. As we began relaxing, we gave small talk about everything from sunburn to alligators, which we saw none of either on that day.
We finished, then enjoyed a long ride back to the boat ramp. As the sun was slipping into darkness in the west, we hoisted our boats onto their trailers and left the lake, hoping to do this again soon.
One thing struck us as obvious from the start -- where were all the boats? Most of the time when we had gone boating here, we saw many boats and boaters. In the past, the lakes were so full of fun-seeking boaters that concession pontoons drifted along selling snacks and refreshments to the willing sunbathers.
On this, most perfect day, there were few. We could only attribute this to the accelerating gasoline (petrol) prices in the U.S. Fewer and fewer people seem to afford the luxury. One cannot help but wonder if we will be experiencing less and less of this, and other pleasures, as time moves forward. This is one of the topics we discussed while relaxing on our flotation devices.
Friends, if you live in an area where you can take part in outdoor activities, please be thankful. Whether it is snow or water skiing, hunting, camping, hiking, swimming, biking or other. Please get out and do it while you can. Life is short. Go out and have some fun, starting now!
As we navigate our challenges, getting out of the house or office, helps us remain happier, friendlier and healthier,
The mental and physical roads are dangerous. Please keep yourselves, and your autos, between the lines...
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