Every day is relatively hot. The water on the lake is calm for water skiing. The nights stay warm enough to go swimming sans bathing attire. And I have a boat to zoom all over the place in.
The only thing missing is my friends on their boats and the rendezvous in front of Maple Bay Marina, or Lakewood Beach, or the point where Mark Swanson lived. Sometimes we went to Bemus Point, especially in the evenings when we had hopes that some teenage girls would be sitting on docks there, vacationing with their parents and bored out of their skulls.
In those years we met some of those young ladies, who unfortunately tended to be even more bored out of their skulls after talking with us for 15 minutes. (Think about the guys from the Anthony Michael Hall movie, Weird Science.)
But our days were devoted to waterskiing, and some of things we did make my knee hurt just thinking about them. For one, we would start sitting on the edge of the dock, sliding off at the last instant as the rope on the boat became taut.
But the best was when you came back in and zipped over to the dock, sliding your skinny butt right back where you started. I used to be able to do it quite well. But last summer my wife nixed the idea when I wanted to try it for old times sake. Considering how racked up I was after skiing for maybe a half-hour, a dock landing might not have been in my best interest.
The other fun thing was to put the rope between your knees if you were on two skis - or to try to get so low on one ski that you were literally running on the edge, not the bottom, of the ski.
That seems to be what the fellow in the photo is doing, seconds before he learns what it feels like to hit the water at 60 mph.
OW!
I hope some boat/boating is part of reunion next summer. It wouldn't seem the same without it.
And (provided I can get someone to distract the Admiral) I want to start - and end up - on a nice dry dock, just one more time.
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Today's song was an easy one to pick out:
Come On Down To My Boat
(Every Mothers' Son lyrics)
She sits on the dock
A fishin' in the water uh, huh
I don't know her name
She's the fisherman's daughter uh, huh
Come on down to my boat baby
Come on down where we can play
Come on down to my boat baby
Come on down we'll sail away
She smiled so nice
Like she wants to come with me uh, huh
But she's tied to the dock and she can't get free
Come on down to my boat baby
Fish all day sleep all night
Father never lets her out of his sight
Soon I'm gonna have to get my knife
And cut that rope, cut that rope
Then we can go fishin' in my little red boat
Make you happy in my little red boat
So come on down to my boat baby
Soon I'm gonna have to get my knife
And cut that rope, cut that rope
Then we can go fishin' in my little red boat
Make you happy in my little red boat
So come on down to my boat baby
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