GOOD TIMES... Summer (Part 119h)

GOOD TIMES... Summer (Part 119h)

My euphoria was short lived as Elle and the mother of the little boy both appeared with their food and a plate for Sandy. When Sandy stood up I noticed that she wasn’t wearing the shorts she’d had on when we arrived. It took me a few seconds before I recognized that they were Elle’s. They were part of a two piece short set that my mother had gotten her after Anne was born but too many spit ups had ruined the top and she’d kept the shorts to do yard work. When Sandy and the other woman were chatting I leaned over to ask Elle what the story was with the shorts. She gave me a “look”, made a motion across her lips and mouthed “SHUT UP!” without making a sound. Then Elle asked me if I wanted her to go get my food. I told her that standing over smoking chickens for almost two hours had taken all my desire for food away. By the time they had finished eating I was ready to leave. I wanted a shower to get that smell of Bar B Que chicken off of me. However, Elle had promised the kids another round of rides and she wanted me to take the baby on the merry go round for her first ride. I knew the sooner we did it the sooner we’d get home so off we went.

The older girls were big enough to ride the horse that went up and down (on the merry go round) by themselves. We decided that I’d place Kay on a stationary horse and hold her during the ride. Few wanted that type horse so I had my choice of where to place Kaye. Elle, Sandy and the girls ended up on the other side of the carousel. I think because Bret saw me on the ride he made it an extra long one and by the time it stopped it was me who was dizzy. When I got off I had to go find Elle and the girls. When I caught up with them Sandy was missing. Elle said she had gone to use a porta potty and would meet us at the train ride.

The lines for the train were painfully long. It wasn’t so much that it was popular (it was) but the fact that only 30 people could ride at one time as opposed to the merry go round which could hold a lot more. When we finally were able to get on board there were only four seats left. Elle insisted that I go on the ride and hold Kaye in my lap. At 6’1“, trying to fit my legs in the allotted space was a job in itself. Even a contortionist my size probably would’ve had a problem. I survived... but barely. My back, which I’d hurt back in my horse training days, wasn’t in great shape by the time it was over. However, the baby really enjoyed the ride, especially when the ”engineer“ blew the whistle.

Sandy never returned and when we got back to our things we saw her sitting in her chair with her feet and legs out in front of her and her hands folded in her lap. She wasn’t the same Sandy we’d seen earlier, much more somber. I asked if she was OK and she said she was but something had changed. Anxious to leave, I didn't dwell on it and started collecting the kids toys and folding up the chairs. Elle started picking up the beach towels and blankets we’d laid out on the ground. Knowing that the station wagon would be hot I headed for the parking lot to open it up and air it out. I didn’t wait for the others. Station wagons in that period of time had roll down back windows. I rolled it down and just dumped our stuff in the back. By the time I had all the doors open the others were putting the rest of the things in the back as well. I got in and started the engine not paying much attention to the others.

We were halfway home before anyone spoke up. To make conversation, Elle asked Sandy what she was going to do the rest of the afternoon. When she answered and said she thought she’d go over to the sailing club and go for a sail that got my older girls attention. They both shouted out that they wanted to go with her. We didn’t go much further before I knew what my afternoon was going to be like.

We dropped Sandy off at her house and told her we’d meet her at the sailing club. As soon as we pulled up to our garage Elle and the kids got out and ran up to the house to change into their bathing suits. I backed my car out of the garage and backed it up to the Sunfish trailer. I’d just finished attaching the safety chains when Jean was back and in her bathing suit. Now, there was one thing that really annoyed me about her. She was a tattler, always pointing out when someone else, (mostly her sister, Anne) did something wrong. It was obvious she had something to tell me and I really didn’t want to hear it. At that point I just wanted to get out of my smelly clothes. But she was insistent that she tell her tale.

”Aunt Sandy wet her pants today... twice.“ I‘d started towards the house but stopped when I heard that. I asked her if she was positive and her answer was, for sure, a confirmation when she said that she’d made a puddle. As you probably already know, that bit of information excited me... but I wanted this to be a teaching experience for Jean. I stopped and squatted down in front of her. I looked right in her eyes and asked her how she would feel if she had an ”accident“ and I started telling people about it. She didn’t say anything but looked away from me. I waited before saying anything else and then it was to say that I didn’t want her tattling on anybody, anymore and if she did I was going to be really mad. I had to physically turn her head to get her to look at me and to say that she understood. I just hoped she did.

We were on our way in about 15 minutes. Sandy was already at the club when we arrived and was in the process of raising the sails on her boat. It was the first time I'd seen her in a bathing suit and I was impressed. It was a one piece suit with a flowered motif and it showed her "curves" way better than when she was wearing a blouse and shorts. I had to watch myself from staring at her. Seeing her that way and knowing that she'd wet herself earlier was a deadly combination.

To be continued...