WINDING DOWN... Summer (Part 140e)

WINDING DOWN... Summer... (part 140e)

That was an excuse I never would have guessed. I’m not sure I knew anybody who didn’t know how to swim. You learned to walk, talk and then swim. Both Jean and Anne knew how to swim before they were five years old and Kaye, at a little over three, already knew how to dog paddle in the water. I don’t know what my facial expression was as I digested the information but I recovered to say that it might be something she pursued with so many beaches and so much water all around the area. My girls were really pestering Barbara until I finally ordered them to stop. At that point Barbara, in an effort to more fully explain herself, said she was concerned that with her being fearful it would be a distraction and spoil the trip for everybody else. I told her that not only were the girls disappointed but that I was too. I explained that I got a lot of satisfaction introducing people to the sailing experience.

We’d already started back towards the house by then. Barbara was still trying to placate the kids and it was then that I remembered that I’d never really given the wash line a close look. Again noticing that their car was gone I asked Barbara where her parents were. She explained that they’d gone back to where they used to live to see some relatives who were visiting from Germany. I asked why she hadn’t gone with them and she laughed and said that both she and her sister pleaded to not have to go. Four hours with seven people in a car was not fun. She explained that they had agreed to do all the chores if they could stay. We were almost to the house when Mo, the sister, appeared on the little back porch. I can’t really fully describe what she was wearing but it was far from flattering. It was a combination of a dress and a robe, way too large and very faded. I remember my mother having something like it and calling it a ‘duster’. Ironically, she had  a dust rag in her hand and was about to beat it against the handrail.

Barbara briefly explained to her why the kids and I were there. I saw Mo smile and I pretty much figured it was something between the two of them. Time was flying by and it was approaching 10am. I’d hoped to be out on the water by then. Walking into the house I told Elle I had some bad news and that Barbara wouldn’t be joining us. I explained it by saying that she and her sister had agreed do all the household chores to avoid a couple of long car rides for a family visit. Elle was just finishing repacking the additional sandwiches she’d made into the cooler. She looked up and, with a wry smile on her face, said she also had bad news... her mother couldn’t take the kids that night as close friends had decided to come and visit for Elle’s father’s birthday. To me, that was good news. It meant we wouldn’t be going to the party Elle had coerced me into going to... that is, until Elle processed what I’d told about the girls next door.

Without saying a word she was out the door. I saw her jogging towards the opening in the hedge and then it came to me... she was going to ask the girls to babysit for us that night. My reprieve from having to attend the party that night was short lived. When she returned she told the kids she had a real surprise for them and told them that both Mo and Barbara would be eating supper with us that night and then would stay to play with them afterwards. The cheer that went up was almost deafening. However, when Kaye, the youngest heard the news she thought it was going to happen right away. It wasn’t until we were loading the station wagon to head for the marina that she realized that it wasn’t. At three years old it was hard (impossible) to reason with her and a tantrum ensued. Elle didn’t like to give in to such emotional outbursts but, rather than to sacrifice the whole day and have it ruined for everybody, agreed to take her next door to see Barbara hoping that she could persuade her to behave.

I, and the older girls, waited by the station wagon, anxious to get going. Finally, Elle appeared in the hedge opening and motioned for us to go on and get in. As we drove off she told me that Barbara (and her sister) had volunteered to keep Kaye occupied for a few hours while we got in a bit of a sail. I asked what time we had to be back and when Elle said 3pm I wasn’t happy but agreed with her that a little was better than none. When I’d gotten out of bed I had a brief thought of going to the marina and getting the boat prepped to go but that was it... just a thought. It was after 11am and there was a lot of work to do before we could leave the dock. At least it was a nice day and what appeared to be a fair breeze.
                       

 Elle and I’d used the boat in the past and knew that it was not conducive to swim off of it. ”B“ didn’t have a ladder and once in the water you pretty much had to stay there so she elected to just wear clothes and not a bathing suit. The girls had worn their suits under their clothes so if they chose to go in the water they were prepared. I knew I could lift them back into the boat so that wasn’t a concern. But, Elle had been ready to leave back around 10am. With all the machinations that had taken place Elle hadn’t used a toilet in quite a while. We had cast off from the dock when she remembered. When she told me I just rolled my eyes at her. She then shrugged her shoulders as if to say don’t go back. I didn’t smile but I was on the ‘inside’. The girls were well aware of Elle’s ‘accidents’ and, if it was just family, pretty much ignored the situation if something happened. In my perverse world I hoped it would.

As soon as the sails were raised the noon siren went off in town. Anne had grabbed for the tiller to steer the boat and it was a bit of a shock to her because the Lightning class sailboat was much larger than the Sunfish she was used to. I let her struggle for a bit and then explained why it felt so much different. I won’t give a sailing lesson here but, for the most part she understood. I was impressed as she wasn’t quite seven years old. Her sister, Jean, took her turn and quickly relinquished it. As long as I was in a teaching mode I had Elle take a turn. She’d sailed with me as crew when I had my Comet class boat so had a better idea of what to expect. The older girls were now clamoring to eat. I was near the cooler so opened it and doled out the food. Elle continued to sail the boat in a very competent manner. I wasn’t expecting to have to persuade her to give up being the skipper but I did. She waited until the girls were fully occupied before getting up and when she did I knew why. She’d peed herself... everything... and didn’t want to girls to see her doing it. By sitting in the same place with her legs together allowed her to ‘go’ without the girls noticing. When I took over she just slid sideways and I stepped over her and for a short while was able to keep her secret. I have to admit I was ‘hard’ and was also worried the kids would notice... but they didn’t.

To be continued...