GETTING SOAKED

Were you were born land-locked and never learned to swim? Are you afraid of the deep end, never venturing out over your head? I had a fear of water as a child but as I learned to swim fear began to diminish.

The summer after third grade my parents did a cruel thing. They forced me to join swim team. Why would parents subject their children to miles of exhaustion? I literally tried to hide when swim practice came because it was so doggone hard. I resented the water like a wet house cat. Funny, some things parents force us to do end up becoming loves.

On one childhood vacation our parents rented a little houseboat and we spent a handful of days on a lake in Wisconsin. I was magnetized by living right on top of the water! In my growing-up days enjoyment increased as we lived beside a lovely lake and near splendid rivers. There is no better way to get your eyes open in the morning that to look out over a body of water!

My ambition in High school was to be a professional water skier. The older I get the better I was! It was exciting to ski jump, spin on trick skis and even fly in a kite behind a boat. I was able to barefoot ski and do tricks with the driver’s help, like skiing around the boat. The most invigorating thing was to cross the wake doing sixty and make deep strong turns.

Long hours of canoeing made me comfortable with a paddle. When our son was ten we were in a family camp canoe race. Parents were blindfolded in the back seat of the canoes. Children gave directions from the front seats. Because I know to keep a canoe going pretty straight without looking Brian just had to do a little touch up in the front and tell me how we needed to turn.

I play memories of lazing, sitting pleasantly becalmed in our homebuilt sailboat, the Sea Hag. I also remember three friends hiking out on the catamaran as we cut through chop doing 22 knots. The hull was humming and the stays were singing with vibration. Thrilling! Sailboat races are in my memory treasure chest.

Over time my relationship with the deep moved from fear of drowning, to wet-cat resentment, and on to comfort, adventure, exhilaration and delight.

Do you keep distant from what you cannot fathom, apprehensive of denizens of the deep? Is it fear of floundering or getting you hair wet? I suggest a good squirt-gun fight to break the surface tension. There is still time to make memories – by going out over your head. Get soaked and venture into the deep end!

Steven C Johnson

Landingstripenterprises.com