Boat

I don't have much of a history with boats. When I was a kid, my dad acquired a bass boat from a neighbor of ours. We went out in that boat as a family exactly once. My sister and I were in the front with fishing poles, ready to have a picnic and catch the big one. And once we got out into the middle of Lake Hudson, the engine died.

My sister and I didn't know anything was wrong. Mom and Dad had discussions in the front of the boat, which were dutifully ignored by us. Every now and then, one of us would ask, "Can we start fishing now?" The answer was always "NoSitDown."

After a few hours of being stranded in the middle of the lake with no oars, Dad got somebody's attention, and we were rescued. The boat was given to a more nautical extended family member. That was when I was somewhere around 10 years old, I think.

That was the first time I'd been out on a lake. The second time was yesterday.

Actually, it's a bit of a stretch to say I was *out* on the lake. My wife and I went to Lake Skiatook with Scruffy to his new (to him) boat. We helped him clean it up a bit. It hadn't been used in a couple of years, so the mildew was thick.

Shortly after getting on the boat, I grabbed a rag and a spray-bottle of something near-toxic, and sat down. I happily volunteered to work on the low parts. The only way I could get my sea legs was to get off them. I am such a pathetic landlubber.

Because it was a work day and not a play day (and because of a couple of lingering concerns about the engine), we didn't leave the dock. Sometime here in the next few weeks, we'll see about venturing out further.