As I read over this in 2017, I see that it more or
less a summary of all our Lake Powell experiences. Even though it’s repetitious,
I’m going to leave it intact.
LAKE POWELL 2003
September
4-8
DeRay,
Jeanette, Ed, and Amy Lyn
Compared
to the gym,
I prefer to swim in The Lake!
I prefer to swim in The Lake!
Jeanette hanging onto tree
Awesome views,
Space,
Liberty.
We don't have to scan in our picture ID
Or report what we are going to do.
There are no harsh chemicals
Or disinfectants to burn and scratch our eyes,
Space,
Liberty.
We don't have to scan in our picture ID
Or report what we are going to do.
There are no harsh chemicals
Or disinfectants to burn and scratch our eyes,
And
fade our swimsuits.
It's more than three or four feet deep.
That's the best part!
Life is very basic at Lake Powell.
Eating and sleeping are the highlights,
Perhaps as life is meant to be.
Reading and games are our entertainment;
Swimming our exercise.
We enjoy the fruits of previous labor.
It's called a vacation.
Quiet.
Serene.
"Hello! Hello! Anybody out there?"
No answer.
We could be the only people left on earth.
Magnificent.
Healer of Body and Soul.
Nevertheless, as always I run a little scared,
not being accustomed to big bodies of water
and being clueless as to how to drive the boat.
The clouds come and go.
They are harmless enough
except for the wind
that accompanies a storm.
We've been in many windstorms here.
They are frightening,
Disconcerting,
Alarming.
I don't like the flies and mice either.
Lizards don't scare me.
DeRay thought he saw a mouse
tumble in the open door
as he was reading one night.
However, by the next morning he decides
it may not have been a mouse
but merely a plastic bag
(That Amy has used
to feed bread to the fishes.)
"Wow! Look at that giant catfish."
"The fish are starving
But they don't like vegetables,"
Amy reports.
"Like me," Ed adds.
In opposition to my fear,
Ed looked enormously forward to coming down
and is genuinely excited to be on the lake.
"I love my boat.
I'm sure glad I got to drive it.
Thank you for letting me drive it.
Gosh, I love my boat.
It's the best birthday present I ever got."
"I thought you liked your car."
"That's next -- second."
"We didn't bring complainers,"
he keeps reminding us.
Here comes the wind.
I'm uptight.
How can DeRay read?
Amy sleep?
Get me on solid ground.
In truth,
the boat rocks the entire time.
We've never experienced this before.
Usually when a storm comes,
even if the winds whip mercilessly,
within 20 minutes all is calm again.
The weather is unsettled the entire time.
Amy, who fights motion sickness,
Is sicker'nadog by the time we get home.
We have our moments -
incredible view of Mars each night
when we go topside to bed.
Even if the rest of the sky
is more or less clouded over,
Mars is clear and bold.
We are blessed.
This vision of our galaxy right before our eyes.
Our sister planet.
We feel a kinship.
The next time I wake up,
Mars is gone
but the rest of the sky is clear
and the stars are brilliant.
Inspiring.
I hesitate to close my eyes
and block out the wonders.
"Gosh, I love this boat."
"Good thing we got the boat to give us shelter."
"Amy! Amy! You're getting wet.
Do you want me
to throw you down with the bedding?"
"You don't know anything about rain.
It will dry.
This is Lake Powell."
"It's going to rain all day."
Amy, Masters Degree,
Camp Director Superior,
doesn't have enough sense
to come in out of the rain."Are you fixing my breakfast, Ed?"
It's more than three or four feet deep.
That's the best part!
Life is very basic at Lake Powell.
Eating and sleeping are the highlights,
Perhaps as life is meant to be.
Reading and games are our entertainment;
Swimming our exercise.
We enjoy the fruits of previous labor.
It's called a vacation.
Quiet.
Serene.
"Hello! Hello! Anybody out there?"
No answer.
We could be the only people left on earth.
Magnificent.
Healer of Body and Soul.
Nevertheless, as always I run a little scared,
not being accustomed to big bodies of water
and being clueless as to how to drive the boat.
The clouds come and go.
They are harmless enough
except for the wind
that accompanies a storm.
We've been in many windstorms here.
They are frightening,
Disconcerting,
Alarming.
I don't like the flies and mice either.
Lizards don't scare me.
DeRay thought he saw a mouse
tumble in the open door
as he was reading one night.
However, by the next morning he decides
it may not have been a mouse
but merely a plastic bag
(That Amy has used
to feed bread to the fishes.)
"Wow! Look at that giant catfish."
"The fish are starving
But they don't like vegetables,"
Amy reports.
"Like me," Ed adds.
In opposition to my fear,
Ed looked enormously forward to coming down
and is genuinely excited to be on the lake.
"I love my boat.
I'm sure glad I got to drive it.
Thank you for letting me drive it.
Gosh, I love my boat.
It's the best birthday present I ever got."
"I thought you liked your car."
"That's next -- second."
"We didn't bring complainers,"
he keeps reminding us.
Here comes the wind.
I'm uptight.
How can DeRay read?
Amy sleep?
Get me on solid ground.
In truth,
the boat rocks the entire time.
We've never experienced this before.
Usually when a storm comes,
even if the winds whip mercilessly,
within 20 minutes all is calm again.
The weather is unsettled the entire time.
Amy, who fights motion sickness,
Is sicker'nadog by the time we get home.
We have our moments -
incredible view of Mars each night
when we go topside to bed.
Even if the rest of the sky
is more or less clouded over,
Mars is clear and bold.
We are blessed.
This vision of our galaxy right before our eyes.
Our sister planet.
We feel a kinship.
The next time I wake up,
Mars is gone
but the rest of the sky is clear
and the stars are brilliant.
Inspiring.
I hesitate to close my eyes
and block out the wonders.
"Gosh, I love this boat."
"Good thing we got the boat to give us shelter."
"Amy! Amy! You're getting wet.
Do you want me
to throw you down with the bedding?"
"You don't know anything about rain.
It will dry.
This is Lake Powell."
"It's going to rain all day."
Amy, Masters Degree,
Camp Director Superior,
doesn't have enough sense
to come in out of the rain."Are you fixing my breakfast, Ed?"
"I don't work on vacation."
"Whose trip is this? My boat. My trip," jokes DeRay.
"My boat. My trip.
I sure had fun driving the boat yesterday,"
Ed enforces.
"Whose trip is this? My boat. My trip," jokes DeRay.
"My boat. My trip.
I sure had fun driving the boat yesterday,"
Ed enforces.
Theoretically,
DeRay & Amy are the cooks
while Ed and I are the dishwashers.
Our meals are all exceptional;
Gourmet.
Fresh produce from the garden helps,
including peaches from the backyard.
We used to heat water to wash the dishes,
adding unwanted heat to the cabin,
then we'd add cold water to make it the right
temperature to put our hands in.
Last year,
I started using room temperature water
right out of the tap
and adding soap
and bleach.
Makes more sense.
Amy had quite a following of fish
at various times during the day -
very large carp,
very large catfish,
and little sunfish,
who patiently wait until last to eat.
It was so much fun to watch them tumble over
and around each other grasping
for food
in some kind of fish
Patriarchal order.
How do squirrels survive in this barren land?
A little fellow keeps showing up
on the rocks
in front of the boat.
We throw it zucchini seeds,
which he doesn't seem to care for.
I don't know if he got the almonds
I share with him,
but Amy makes him a friend for life
when she throws him cherry tomatoes.
He is so cute putting them in his mouth
and scampering off over the rocks,
only to be back for the next one she throws.
Later in the day,
I'm topside reading.
Amy comes up grousing,
"You're on my air mattress,
My pillow
And reading my book."
#1 she offered me the book,
then hounded me every minute until I finished it.
I don't read books non-stop.
I fall asleep.
"I've decided I don't want to read it now,"
she says when I finally hand it over.
"Now Dad's reading my book."
(He actually reads four books she brought.)
"The rain in Spain falls mainly in the Plain,"
chortles DeRay.
"You watch too many movies," Ed asserts.
DeRay can't find the syrup.
I always accuse him of opening his mouth
before he opens his eyes.
"The point is,
somebody opened their eyes
before they opened their mouth," he jokes.
"There!" Ed says, "you said something funny."
"Another job you can do, Ed,
is empty the drainer once the dishes are dry."
"Nope."
"It's called emptying the hand dishwasher.
You're not going to believe this,
But when I was a child we didn't have dishwashers."
"You had dish doers, didn't you?"
"Yes. And it was I.
Even though I was one of eight children,
I was the only one who ever did anything."
(There, I said something funny.)
This is our 20th year to come to Lake Powell.
We've always had the rule
that no one swims
without a float or life jacket.
Have you ever tried to swim with a float?
So we either break the rule or don't swim.
Mainly, I swim a short distance
between the boat and shore.
This year, Life Guard Amy ties her shoelaces
together then to the float
and slings it over her neck and shoulder
like an old Primary bandolo
(Is that a made-up word?
Bandoleer is in the dictionary but not bandolo.).
The float follows obediently without inhibiting
strokes, either front or backstroke.
It took 20 years for someone to come up with this
simple invention.
Freedom!
I swim from the boat to the corner of the cove
and back - out of sight - perfectly safe
with my float tagging along behind me.
I don't have to wait for anyone else
to get in the mood to go with me.
DeRay can finish his novel.
Amy can sleep.
Ed can think.
I go swimming, just my float and me.
Our most famous rule breaker
from bygone days,
was when we saw an older son Brooke
swim up out of nowhere.
He and Amy Butcher had been hiking.
She became tired.
He decided to leave her at water's edge
and swim the lagoon,
around the corner
and up the cove
where we were parked -"
Too far - but he made it -
and we didn't know he was doing it
so we had no cause to worry.
He planned to take the dingy back
to pick her up,
But DeRay thought it was too far
so he took the houseboat over.
And then
there was the time
Brent, Brooke, Elizabeth and Mariana
took the dingy to the end of the canyon
and went hiking.
Its pitch black
and they're not back.
It's 11:00 P.M. and they're still not back.
Earlier in the evening
I had swam up to the end
Where some kids were riding in their dingy.
I told them to get out and put it back
but now we don't know
if our kids have a way back to the houseboat.
Maybe the thieves didn't put the dingy back.
We eventually become
so concerned that we go to the houseboat
next door
and ask them if they'll take their small boat up
to help us find our kids.
DeRay and the boat owner get to the end of the
Lake just as they get back from their hike.
DeRay reports they are fine
And soon we hear the four of them
like four drunks
splashing and pushing each other out of the dingy,
laughing their heads off
as they paddle down the channel.
Amy and Bonnie hadn't gone with them
and they are about as upset as we are.
"I can't believe you fix them dinner
after all that," Amy grumbled.
Frankly, I was so glad to see them
that I would have fed them a King's Feast.
Brooke and Elizabeth
haven't been on the houseboat
since they've had kids.
They don't want their kids on it.
"Brooke and Elizabeth
wouldn't be so frightened
to let their kids come down here
if they hadn't broken so many rules
and got into so much danger,"
I say to DeRay.
"That's what I say.
Brooke just thinks of the way he was
and it scares him to death."
With fins,
It would take me five minutes
To swim out to the main channel,
five minutes back x 3 = 30 minutes,
which is how long I like to swim
at the gym.
Amy could cover the same distance
in three minutes,
without fins.
That's why she's a Life Guard Instructor
and I'm an old fuddy-duddy.
Amy and I take a long swim
with our floats one afternoon.
We swim over to the next inlet,
through the main channel.
It doesn't have the shade ours does
but there's hiking -
and who needs shade on this trip?
Ed usually puts on a life jacket
before he gets in the water.
With the New Invention,
he gets in without his life jacket
and can actually swim.
Freedom and equality!
It's 1:35 P.M..
The sun is out for the first time today.
The sky is still mainly cloudy.
The blessed sun never gives up.
The slightest little break in the clouds,
it's shining through.
Loyal sustainer of life.
"By the way, Happy Anniversary,"
Ed says on Sunday morning,
And then in the very next breath,
"Boy, I love this boat."
Anticipating our 47th wedding anniversary,
The first night on the boat,
I whisper to DeRay,
"You probably have my gift
tucked in your pocket."
To Amy the next day, I say,
"I know you and Ed have a
DeRay & Amy are the cooks
while Ed and I are the dishwashers.
Our meals are all exceptional;
Gourmet.
Fresh produce from the garden helps,
including peaches from the backyard.
We used to heat water to wash the dishes,
adding unwanted heat to the cabin,
then we'd add cold water to make it the right
temperature to put our hands in.
Last year,
I started using room temperature water
right out of the tap
and adding soap
and bleach.
Makes more sense.
Amy had quite a following of fish
at various times during the day -
very large carp,
very large catfish,
and little sunfish,
who patiently wait until last to eat.
It was so much fun to watch them tumble over
and around each other grasping
for food
in some kind of fish
Patriarchal order.
How do squirrels survive in this barren land?
A little fellow keeps showing up
on the rocks
in front of the boat.
We throw it zucchini seeds,
which he doesn't seem to care for.
I don't know if he got the almonds
I share with him,
but Amy makes him a friend for life
when she throws him cherry tomatoes.
He is so cute putting them in his mouth
and scampering off over the rocks,
only to be back for the next one she throws.
Later in the day,
I'm topside reading.
Amy comes up grousing,
"You're on my air mattress,
My pillow
And reading my book."
#1 she offered me the book,
then hounded me every minute until I finished it.
I don't read books non-stop.
I fall asleep.
"I've decided I don't want to read it now,"
she says when I finally hand it over.
"Now Dad's reading my book."
(He actually reads four books she brought.)
"The rain in Spain falls mainly in the Plain,"
chortles DeRay.
"You watch too many movies," Ed asserts.
DeRay can't find the syrup.
I always accuse him of opening his mouth
before he opens his eyes.
"The point is,
somebody opened their eyes
before they opened their mouth," he jokes.
"There!" Ed says, "you said something funny."
"Another job you can do, Ed,
is empty the drainer once the dishes are dry."
"Nope."
"It's called emptying the hand dishwasher.
You're not going to believe this,
But when I was a child we didn't have dishwashers."
"You had dish doers, didn't you?"
"Yes. And it was I.
Even though I was one of eight children,
I was the only one who ever did anything."
(There, I said something funny.)
This is our 20th year to come to Lake Powell.
We've always had the rule
that no one swims
without a float or life jacket.
Have you ever tried to swim with a float?
So we either break the rule or don't swim.
Mainly, I swim a short distance
between the boat and shore.
This year, Life Guard Amy ties her shoelaces
together then to the float
and slings it over her neck and shoulder
like an old Primary bandolo
(Is that a made-up word?
Bandoleer is in the dictionary but not bandolo.).
The float follows obediently without inhibiting
strokes, either front or backstroke.
It took 20 years for someone to come up with this
simple invention.
Freedom!
I swim from the boat to the corner of the cove
and back - out of sight - perfectly safe
with my float tagging along behind me.
I don't have to wait for anyone else
to get in the mood to go with me.
DeRay can finish his novel.
Amy can sleep.
Ed can think.
I go swimming, just my float and me.
Our most famous rule breaker
from bygone days,
was when we saw an older son Brooke
swim up out of nowhere.
He and Amy Butcher had been hiking.
She became tired.
He decided to leave her at water's edge
and swim the lagoon,
around the corner
and up the cove
where we were parked -"
Too far - but he made it -
and we didn't know he was doing it
so we had no cause to worry.
He planned to take the dingy back
to pick her up,
But DeRay thought it was too far
so he took the houseboat over.
And then
there was the time
Brent, Brooke, Elizabeth and Mariana
took the dingy to the end of the canyon
and went hiking.
Its pitch black
and they're not back.
It's 11:00 P.M. and they're still not back.
Earlier in the evening
I had swam up to the end
Where some kids were riding in their dingy.
I told them to get out and put it back
but now we don't know
if our kids have a way back to the houseboat.
Maybe the thieves didn't put the dingy back.
We eventually become
so concerned that we go to the houseboat
next door
and ask them if they'll take their small boat up
to help us find our kids.
DeRay and the boat owner get to the end of the
Lake just as they get back from their hike.
DeRay reports they are fine
And soon we hear the four of them
like four drunks
splashing and pushing each other out of the dingy,
laughing their heads off
as they paddle down the channel.
Amy and Bonnie hadn't gone with them
and they are about as upset as we are.
"I can't believe you fix them dinner
after all that," Amy grumbled.
Frankly, I was so glad to see them
that I would have fed them a King's Feast.
Brooke and Elizabeth
haven't been on the houseboat
since they've had kids.
They don't want their kids on it.
"Brooke and Elizabeth
wouldn't be so frightened
to let their kids come down here
if they hadn't broken so many rules
and got into so much danger,"
I say to DeRay.
"That's what I say.
Brooke just thinks of the way he was
and it scares him to death."
With fins,
It would take me five minutes
To swim out to the main channel,
five minutes back x 3 = 30 minutes,
which is how long I like to swim
at the gym.
Amy could cover the same distance
in three minutes,
without fins.
That's why she's a Life Guard Instructor
and I'm an old fuddy-duddy.
Amy and I take a long swim
with our floats one afternoon.
We swim over to the next inlet,
through the main channel.
It doesn't have the shade ours does
but there's hiking -
and who needs shade on this trip?
Ed usually puts on a life jacket
before he gets in the water.
With the New Invention,
he gets in without his life jacket
and can actually swim.
Freedom and equality!
It's 1:35 P.M..
The sun is out for the first time today.
The sky is still mainly cloudy.
The blessed sun never gives up.
The slightest little break in the clouds,
it's shining through.
Loyal sustainer of life.
"By the way, Happy Anniversary,"
Ed says on Sunday morning,
And then in the very next breath,
"Boy, I love this boat."
Anticipating our 47th wedding anniversary,
The first night on the boat,
I whisper to DeRay,
"You probably have my gift
tucked in your pocket."
To Amy the next day, I say,
"I know you and Ed have a
great
celebration planned;
Secret cake and all."
"Your anniversary means nothing to me.
It's between you two,"
She replies matter-of-factly.
"On the contrary,
our wedding means everything you -
Your very life!"
So our 47th wedding anniversary
was spent in anonymity
as were our previous 47 years.
Oh wait!
Brent and Jan, Jonathan, Naomi and Amanda
sent a card!
Thank you, dear ones.
Also, better than cake, DeRay made delicious
cinnamon rolls. YES!
And he says the SunRiver house
is our anniversary gift.
Excuses.
Excuses.
One whole evening's entertainment
was taken up with a bold little mouse.
We were sitting at the table playing games
(In our bare feet).
This daring little mouse came
right to the drawer
under my seat
where he had nibbled on bread
the night before.
DeRay is positioned with the broom overhead.
SPLASH!
I throw my hands over my eyes.
"Did you get him?"
"No! He didn't hold still."
We find two mousetraps
and some D-con.
We'll win this war.
DeRay is utterly disappointed
when the mouse
doesn't go for the peanut butter.
"City mice might like peanut butter
but Lake Powell mice
don't know what it is,"
I speculate.
So he tries bacon.
He must be on a diet.
He ignored the peanut butter
and the bacon.
He takes his bread with nothing on it!
It doesn't take much to amuse us
on our 47th wedding anniversary.
I remember Lana wrote a poem about
The Mouse in Grandma's House.
This is The Mouse in Grandma's House Boat.
Doesn't quite have the ring.
We never did catch that sneaky little thief.
Or are there 20 or 30?
Ed is sitting alone on the couch
in the back bedroom
thinking and relishing the rain.
After popcorn and cantaloupe,
Amy slinks back with her book
and lies on the bed.
Ed comes grumbling,
"So much for privacy."
"Did Amy storm your Kingdom?"
"So much for privacy."
Amy won't play ZONK
because I can't exactly remember
which are the rules
and which are the ones
we've made up over time,
Plus she can't get on the board.
"Call Sylvia.
Call Brooke. He won't be to bed."
"We have no reception here.
We are surrounded by 400' high
Solid stone, remember?"
"I'm still waiting for the candied popcorn,"
Amy jests whenever we get too comfortable.
Traditionally,
we make candied popcorn
to take to Lake Powell.
It's our trademark.
This year Amy said,
"I sure like Kettle Corn
better than candied popcorn."
Good. I'm off the hook.
With only one day to get ready to go;
lawns to mow,
tomatoes to can,
as well as packing all the clothes,
bedding and food,
I didn't have time to make
Secret cake and all."
"Your anniversary means nothing to me.
It's between you two,"
She replies matter-of-factly.
"On the contrary,
our wedding means everything you -
Your very life!"
So our 47th wedding anniversary
was spent in anonymity
as were our previous 47 years.
Oh wait!
Brent and Jan, Jonathan, Naomi and Amanda
sent a card!
Thank you, dear ones.
Also, better than cake, DeRay made delicious
cinnamon rolls. YES!
And he says the SunRiver house
is our anniversary gift.
Excuses.
Excuses.
One whole evening's entertainment
was taken up with a bold little mouse.
We were sitting at the table playing games
(In our bare feet).
This daring little mouse came
right to the drawer
under my seat
where he had nibbled on bread
the night before.
DeRay is positioned with the broom overhead.
SPLASH!
I throw my hands over my eyes.
"Did you get him?"
"No! He didn't hold still."
We find two mousetraps
and some D-con.
We'll win this war.
DeRay is utterly disappointed
when the mouse
doesn't go for the peanut butter.
"City mice might like peanut butter
but Lake Powell mice
don't know what it is,"
I speculate.
So he tries bacon.
He must be on a diet.
He ignored the peanut butter
and the bacon.
He takes his bread with nothing on it!
It doesn't take much to amuse us
on our 47th wedding anniversary.
I remember Lana wrote a poem about
The Mouse in Grandma's House.
This is The Mouse in Grandma's House Boat.
Doesn't quite have the ring.
We never did catch that sneaky little thief.
Or are there 20 or 30?
Ed is sitting alone on the couch
in the back bedroom
thinking and relishing the rain.
After popcorn and cantaloupe,
Amy slinks back with her book
and lies on the bed.
Ed comes grumbling,
"So much for privacy."
"Did Amy storm your Kingdom?"
"So much for privacy."
Amy won't play ZONK
because I can't exactly remember
which are the rules
and which are the ones
we've made up over time,
Plus she can't get on the board.
"Call Sylvia.
Call Brooke. He won't be to bed."
"We have no reception here.
We are surrounded by 400' high
Solid stone, remember?"
"I'm still waiting for the candied popcorn,"
Amy jests whenever we get too comfortable.
Traditionally,
we make candied popcorn
to take to Lake Powell.
It's our trademark.
This year Amy said,
"I sure like Kettle Corn
better than candied popcorn."
Good. I'm off the hook.
With only one day to get ready to go;
lawns to mow,
tomatoes to can,
as well as packing all the clothes,
bedding and food,
I didn't have time to make
candy
popcorn.
How many times
since we got here in isolation
and solitude has she asked,
"Where's the candied popcorn?"
Our kids.
Our brats.
Even when they're grown up.
Your family is someone
who doesn't notice
even when your hair is poking up in every direction
and it scares you when you look in the mirror -
Or, they don't look at you.
Ed said something about
Amy being his favorite sister.
DeRay brought up Amy's ugly brother.
Ed is always saying that he is ugly but on this
occasion, as we did the dishes together,
he says, "That's me," and then added,
"Or are you talking about Brooke or Brent? -
or all of the above?"
It happened again.
Ed, DeRay and I were in the water
when the wind kicks up
as it only can on Lake Powell.
First I recover a pillowcase that blows overboard,
then the poles,
and then the biggie -
The king size air mattress.
It looks like it might sail away for a year
and a day to the land where the Bong tree grows.
Instead, it goes about half way to the main channel
and lodges against the shore.
I am able to swim to it and drag it back.
This is Lake Powell.
Things will dry.
With the dark clouds
and frequent cloudbursts,
we consider sleeping inside the cabin.
"I'm not giving up my prime spot,"
Ed declares.
"I thought the storms would be winding down."
They never do.
We sleep out anyway
so Ed won't have to give up his prime spot.
(And because we're afraid of mice!)
Amy says it's the nicest weather we've ever had.
Cool air--yet the water is warm.
Thunder showers each day.
Truthfully, it has kept me in a state of unrest
and anxiety with its changeableness.
The whole sky is clear and sunny
to give us hope.
Within minutes, the clouds roll in
then the wind whips up
pelting rain.
and finally calm, serenity.
Then the cycle begins again.
I have never seen the weather
so fickle.
so changeable.
It's in a constant state of flux.
The clouds roll over
like they are off to five-alarm fire.
In four days,
it is like a whole season
or maybe a whole year in miniscule.
Ed is vastly afraid of lightning
and mice.
"I don't know if I can sleep.
You shouldn't have said that word.
I don't know.
I'm never going to leave my bed again.
You know what, Mom.
I think we should go home tomorrow,"
How many times
since we got here in isolation
and solitude has she asked,
"Where's the candied popcorn?"
Our kids.
Our brats.
Even when they're grown up.
Your family is someone
who doesn't notice
even when your hair is poking up in every direction
and it scares you when you look in the mirror -
Or, they don't look at you.
Ed said something about
Amy being his favorite sister.
DeRay brought up Amy's ugly brother.
Ed is always saying that he is ugly but on this
occasion, as we did the dishes together,
he says, "That's me," and then added,
"Or are you talking about Brooke or Brent? -
or all of the above?"
It happened again.
Ed, DeRay and I were in the water
when the wind kicks up
as it only can on Lake Powell.
First I recover a pillowcase that blows overboard,
then the poles,
and then the biggie -
The king size air mattress.
It looks like it might sail away for a year
and a day to the land where the Bong tree grows.
Instead, it goes about half way to the main channel
and lodges against the shore.
I am able to swim to it and drag it back.
This is Lake Powell.
Things will dry.
With the dark clouds
and frequent cloudbursts,
we consider sleeping inside the cabin.
"I'm not giving up my prime spot,"
Ed declares.
"I thought the storms would be winding down."
They never do.
We sleep out anyway
so Ed won't have to give up his prime spot.
(And because we're afraid of mice!)
Amy says it's the nicest weather we've ever had.
Cool air--yet the water is warm.
Thunder showers each day.
Truthfully, it has kept me in a state of unrest
and anxiety with its changeableness.
The whole sky is clear and sunny
to give us hope.
Within minutes, the clouds roll in
then the wind whips up
pelting rain.
and finally calm, serenity.
Then the cycle begins again.
I have never seen the weather
so fickle.
so changeable.
It's in a constant state of flux.
The clouds roll over
like they are off to five-alarm fire.
In four days,
it is like a whole season
or maybe a whole year in miniscule.
Ed is vastly afraid of lightning
and mice.
"I don't know if I can sleep.
You shouldn't have said that word.
I don't know.
I'm never going to leave my bed again.
You know what, Mom.
I think we should go home tomorrow,"
he
laments.
"Ed, that mouse probably has been on board
all along.
Just because we've seen it now
doesn't change things.
Ed, sometimes we have mice at home too."
He's still never going to leave his bed again.
And he so looked forward to this trip.
For two months,
no matter where we were,
he would say,
"I've got something to look forward to.
I love my boat."
Maybe in retrospect.
Anticipating and retrospect.
They're the best.
We haven't been pestered by insects -
no mosquitoes -
A few flies that DeRay delights in killing.
Ed being afraid of a mouse,
which he actually saw
as he set on the back couch,
reminds us of the time that our friend, Les,
finally got Raine to come on the houseboat.
for years, she couldn't come
because you had to bathe in the lake,
wash your hair in the lake,
and rough it.
Les faithfully brought the kids.
Then one year, they bought a small boat
and they thought it would be fun
to stay on the houseboat
and go out in their little boat everyday.
As luck would have it,
it rained gently the entire time
So they didn't get out on their boat at all.
With the rain,
they were sleeping on the table bed;
during the night,
not a mouse
but a RAT
crawled over Raine's face.
We haven't seen her since.
I might point out
that there is a difference between placid rain
and thundershowers bringing wicked storms
with great winds.
The lake is only half full,
the level is down 100 feet.
We are so low
that we really can't see our beloved hanging
gardens unless we're on the top deck.
There's still plenty of water,
enough to put fear in the heart of a dry land
Aborigine.
I love to swim and twist and twirl and stretch
in the water.
I can stay in for hours,
But looking out over a big body of water
frightens me.
I feel threatened.
We know well two families
who have lost children down here.
We respect it.
One child died from heat exhaustion
"Ed, that mouse probably has been on board
all along.
Just because we've seen it now
doesn't change things.
Ed, sometimes we have mice at home too."
He's still never going to leave his bed again.
And he so looked forward to this trip.
For two months,
no matter where we were,
he would say,
"I've got something to look forward to.
I love my boat."
Maybe in retrospect.
Anticipating and retrospect.
They're the best.
We haven't been pestered by insects -
no mosquitoes -
A few flies that DeRay delights in killing.
Ed being afraid of a mouse,
which he actually saw
as he set on the back couch,
reminds us of the time that our friend, Les,
finally got Raine to come on the houseboat.
for years, she couldn't come
because you had to bathe in the lake,
wash your hair in the lake,
and rough it.
Les faithfully brought the kids.
Then one year, they bought a small boat
and they thought it would be fun
to stay on the houseboat
and go out in their little boat everyday.
As luck would have it,
it rained gently the entire time
So they didn't get out on their boat at all.
With the rain,
they were sleeping on the table bed;
during the night,
not a mouse
but a RAT
crawled over Raine's face.
We haven't seen her since.
I might point out
that there is a difference between placid rain
and thundershowers bringing wicked storms
with great winds.
The lake is only half full,
the level is down 100 feet.
We are so low
that we really can't see our beloved hanging
gardens unless we're on the top deck.
There's still plenty of water,
enough to put fear in the heart of a dry land
Aborigine.
I love to swim and twist and twirl and stretch
in the water.
I can stay in for hours,
But looking out over a big body of water
frightens me.
I feel threatened.
We know well two families
who have lost children down here.
We respect it.
One child died from heat exhaustion
(a
boy in our neighborhood).
and one drowned in a boating accident
and one drowned in a boating accident
(RaNee
and Roland’s grandson).
Coming back in,
after driving the boat,
I told Ed to come and sit
by Amy and me on the bow
where you can feel the wind on your face
and have an unobstructed view
of the magnificent Scenery.
Reluctantly he comes,
crabbing,
"I can't believe you disturbed me from my post."
Always a Captain!
The wind was strong
but DeRay was patient
and with one engine in reverse
and one in forward,
he let the wind push us into our slip,
safely back at Bullfrog Marina.
Amy doesn't mess around.
We have everything off the boat
and have it cleaned
and are off in exactly one hour.
We made only one trip to the van.
It would have taken DeRay and me
two or three hours to accomplish the same tasks.
Camp Cloud Rim Director Superior.
Leaving at 6 P.M., we arrived home at 11:45 P.M.
Amy is still suffering
from motion sickness and/or flu.
As I said, the boat rocked the entire four days.
Ed went to the eye doctor and has to soak
a sty on his eye
morning and night for 10 minutes.
DeRay's leg is weeping, swollen and painful
so he's confined to bed rest,
Heat,
Antibiotics,
Elevation
And,
TV.
Darn!
--To contemplate two unrelated gems that
we heard on the side at
The 2003 Timpanogos Story Telling Festival
before Lake Powell.
Indirectly, both come from a 105-year-old
Sodom, Georgia, woman.
#1 "Don't tell people about your Problems:
Half the people don't want to hear ‘um
And half are glad you got ‘um."
#2 "Time may be a great Healer
But it sure ain't no Beauty Specialist."
Coming back in,
after driving the boat,
I told Ed to come and sit
by Amy and me on the bow
where you can feel the wind on your face
and have an unobstructed view
of the magnificent Scenery.
Reluctantly he comes,
crabbing,
"I can't believe you disturbed me from my post."
Always a Captain!
The wind was strong
but DeRay was patient
and with one engine in reverse
and one in forward,
he let the wind push us into our slip,
safely back at Bullfrog Marina.
Amy doesn't mess around.
We have everything off the boat
and have it cleaned
and are off in exactly one hour.
We made only one trip to the van.
It would have taken DeRay and me
two or three hours to accomplish the same tasks.
Camp Cloud Rim Director Superior.
Leaving at 6 P.M., we arrived home at 11:45 P.M.
Amy is still suffering
from motion sickness and/or flu.
As I said, the boat rocked the entire four days.
Ed went to the eye doctor and has to soak
a sty on his eye
morning and night for 10 minutes.
DeRay's leg is weeping, swollen and painful
so he's confined to bed rest,
Heat,
Antibiotics,
Elevation
And,
TV.
Darn!
--To contemplate two unrelated gems that
we heard on the side at
The 2003 Timpanogos Story Telling Festival
before Lake Powell.
Indirectly, both come from a 105-year-old
Sodom, Georgia, woman.
#1 "Don't tell people about your Problems:
Half the people don't want to hear ‘um
And half are glad you got ‘um."
#2 "Time may be a great Healer
But it sure ain't no Beauty Specialist."
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