At his birthday party my father asked what my plans were for my week of vacation. I told him I wanted to get the South side of the house painted and to also get in some leisure sailing. I remember him frowning and then telling me that the weather probably wouldn’t co-operate. As I’ve mentioned a time or two before, my father was big into weather forecasting. He was usually pretty close to getting it right, especially when it came to predicting extended bad weather. So, I asked for specifics. He didn’t want to discourage me and put a ‘damper’ on the whole week so limited his prognostication to the next few days and saying that the best of them would be the next day, Labor Day. I specifically asked about rain and he made a ‘face’ that indicated to me that it was going to be a part of it.
Labor Day morning started out to be nice with a partly sunny sky. The only thing I didn’t like about it was the wind blowing from the East. I’d learned that was a sign of a few days of rain coming which served to confirm my father’s prediction. Elle and I had no real plan for the day but I knew I wanted to spend a good bit of time doing things with the kids since school was to start the next day. Then, all the school year activities would begin limiting my opportunities to do things with them. Even though we’d had a sort of sailing picnic on Saturday it had been short and not what either Elle or I had hoped for. Eating breakfast I made a suggestion that we all go on a real picnic and go by sailboat. Elle immediately jumped on the idea. She even suggested where we should go. I was a bit surprised at that but eagerly awaited the details.
At the birthday party she’d been talking with her mother who asked if we were going beach plum picking this year. The year before I’d borrowed a power boat for just Elle and I to go on a picnic. I came upon a fairly secluded sand spit up the bay to the West where beach plum bushes still grew. We ended up picking as many as we could taking them back for her mother to make jam. It was primarily accessible by boat and that was where Elle wanted to go. The older girls were all for it but Kaye still wasn’t into the whole boating thing. A quick phone call to Elle’s mother took care of that problem after she was told we were going beach plum picking. We’d gone through almost all the things we had to make sandwiches with the exception of peanut butter and jelly but the kids didn’t mind that at all. In fact, I remember Elle letting them make their own.
With some doubt about how much sunshine we’d have and for how long Elle insisted upon packing warm clothes “just in case”. It was warm enough for bathing suits and since the location where we’d anchor was perfect for swimming the decision was for bathing suits. I’d purchased a new suit earlier in the Summer for Elle but she had a problem with it. It was nylon and like a tennis dress with separate panties. The print was of brightly colored flowers that I was sure she’d love... and she did... but... the panties were white. She said she wouldn’t wear it out in public saying that people would think it was underwear. In trying to convince her to wear the suit I knew I had to be somewhat careful. What I wanted to use as an argument was that when she wore a tennis dress or skirt that was exactly what she was wearing. The suit panties were double layered and heavier than normal panties. It took a few days but I did finally get her to agree to wear the suit when it was just the two of us or just the kids and us.
When we were changing into our suits I decided to take a bold step hoping that I was still riding the crest of the goodwill I’d earned by committing to buy the Sunfish for her. I asked her to leave on her regular panties instead of the suit panties. I vividly remember her turning to give me one of her patented ‘looks’ and putting her hands on her hips as if to say “No way!” If I said anything I don’t remember what it was but as I stood there I watched her reach for the suit panties and then pull them up over her regular panties. I also remember taking a deep (but silent) breath.
Elle’s parents lived less that five minutes from the marina where “B’s” boat was docked. When we got there her mother had baskets for the beach plums ready for us. The previous year we’d brought them back wrapped in my shirt. We’d made good time in getting to the boat and, since the girls had been a part of putting the sails on back on Saturday, I let them do it while Elle I got all our gear on board. As we motored out towards the bay I saw the clock on the marina office wall reading 10am. It was perfect.
So was the wind. A steady breeze about 5 to 6 miles per hour out of the East. It would make for a smooth trip to our destination and give the girls ample time at the tiller. Arriving at the general location where the beach plums had been prolific the previous Summer, I tossed the anchor overboard. We were able to disembark without getting wet and in a short time had our base of operation set up. The sun was now mostly covered by low hanging clouds and the wind had picked up slightly. We were protected from it by a small sand dune and were in position to see anybody coming who might be walking the beach. To the best of my knowledge it was over a mile to the nearest road. When Elle and I’d been there the Summer before we’d not seen any ‘people garbage’ which made it especially nice.
I was surprised when the girls wanted to get started picking the plums right away. Elle gave them each a basket and pointed them in the direction of the largest bushes. As soon as they were occupied with their chore I turned to Elle and was going to ask that she remove the suit panties. I didn’t have to ask as she was already in the process. I just sat there taking in the view. But she didn’t stop moving after removing them as she crawled off the beach towel and onto the sand. She stood up and walked about ten feet away and then squatted down on her haunches. By then I knew what was coming. I grabbed for the camera but before I could open the bellows and get it set she was done. I pushed the plunger anyway hoping that it would turn out. As I've said, I hated to be rushed when using the Polaroid. Even though it would've been great to have an "action" shot I was still pleased I got the one I took.
To be continued...
2 comments:
Wow, 2 great pics in a row. You are going to spoil us. I am just a little concerned about the sail back.
OB... Worry wort!
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