A DIFFERENT KIND OF SUMMER... some ripples (Part 45l)

Sunday turned out to somewhat similar to the previous one. A pretty stiff breeze out of the East with a fine mist that made it pretty miserable even before we put the boats in the water. The twins were dressed like it was winter with long pants and sweat shirts. They were looking at my boat when I got there and as I walked up I saw Pam leaning over the deck. It was a nice present... a very good VPL. She definitely wasn’t wearing the same heavy cotton panties that she used to wear. But my mind was more on sailing than panties at that moment.

It turned out to be a very long but successful day. Even though we were supposed to race but one race we, realistically, sailed two. The first was thrown out for technical reasons so, to complete the series we needed to sail a second race. Because the wind had picked up even more some of the competitors decided that they had had enough and headed for shore. Rick and I were so cold and were shaking so much we could hardly speak to each other. If the first race had counted we would’ve qualified for the championships. We weren’t doing all that well in the second one and I honestly thought we had blown our chances. But, going for the finish line, we sucked it in and beat the two boats that were just ahead of us as we crossed the finish line. It was the closest finish I’d ever been involved in. We ended up finishing fourth and I didn’t think it was good enough. However, once ashore, we were told that we ended up second and had qualified for the Championships. It was exciting but all I wanted at that time was to get warm. I think it was because I knew I wasn’t going to race in the Championships that I wasn’t more excited.

That night Elle was happy for me but she seemed to be somewhat subdued. By the time I’d eaten and got over to her house I was so very tired that I didn’t press the matter. As I remember it we didn’t do much of anything and I left early and went home and to bed.

Rose and I had a good week as far as our “team” was concerned. She stopped her flirting with me and that took some of the pressure off. Of course it meant no more panty peeks but I was more than willing to forgo those by that time. During the week, on a call to Elle, I found out that both she and her mother were quite sick. Her mother didn’t trust doctors so I knew it had to be bad when I found out that they had both been seen by a doctor. Elle said that neither of them had been to work so that was another measure of how serious it was.

When the Drama class had started the instructor had indicated that we’d tackle three plays. However, we’d spent almost three weeks on Inherit the Wind. This was our second week on Picnic which meant there was only one week for the last play, Death of a Salesman. On that Friday, the instructor made an offer to the class that if we were willing to spend the weekend reading all of Death of a Salesman and be ready for a quiz on Monday, we wouldn’t have to write a paper about the play, Picnic. For me it was a “no brainer“. Sitting down to write a paper, back then, was an ordeal for me. The majority agreed that it was a ”deal“. Rose was one who wanted to write the paper but that was because she’d already started it.

When I got home Friday afternoon Elle was up and sitting in her back yard. She looked terrible. Her eyes were sunken into her head and she had definitely lost weight. My guess is that it was the ”flu“ but in those times that wasn’t something that anyone really ever heard. It was usually a ”Summer cold“. In any case, it didn’t look good for us going out and me being alone with her. If there was a good thing about it it was that I really had no excuse not to do the reading of the play.

I knew Rick would not be back to sail that Sunday and I had intended to have Elle sail with me. On Saturday afternoon, one of the other sailors from the club called me up wondering if he could borrow my boat for the Sunday races. He’d broken his mast in the Territorials and hadn’t been able to locate a new one. He was well up in the standings for the weekly races and knowing that I wasn’t going to be there for August thought he’d ask. He was a good guy and I felt sorry for him so said ”yes“.

I spent as much time with Elle as her mother would let me. She slept a good bit of the time while I did my reading. Because I was planning on heading back to work the following Saturday I had to go get my boat when the races were over and then store it away. It was sort of bittersweet knowing that I’d qualified for the Championships and yet wouldn’t be competing in them.

To be continued...