DEALING WITH THE HEAT... & more (Part 174z)

DEALING WITH THE HEAT… & more (Part 174z)

Trish had to have seen some of the employees while paddling. I didn’t know if she’d seen me but I knew I didn’t want her to see me after her ‘mishap’ so I headed home. There were two things I was really interested in when I got there. The first was to find out what had transpired at the sailing club when the rest of the kids with lessons showed up. Both Jean and Anne had their lessons Monday, Wednesday and Friday and the question was just how many others would show up… and whether the scheduled chaperones would appear. When Elle told me that most of the kids showed up and two mothers were there I almost didn't believe her. She said she stayed to talk with them and said the reaction to the hard-nosed policy was welcomed. My somewhat jaundiced thoughts were that it was only the first day and the real test would be the following days (and weeks).

The second thing I wanted to know was just how the neighbors made out with Coach Bob and the swimming lessons. When I asked Elle smiled… but didn’t answer. That was typical of her when it came to giving me answers about her (mostly) female friends when things turned out a bit embarrassing. She was able to continue playing her ‘game’ of avoidance by saying she had to get supper on the table. Being a Monday night I had to go to the garage and help unload the race car and begin checking it over for the following Saturday night of racing. That would give Elle more time to hope I’d forget to pursue my question. We ate and I helped with doing the dishes hoping that she’d relent and tell me what happened. But she didn’t. I got my answer from an unlikely source… Junior. As I was walking towards my car Junior popped out from the hedge opening, hailing me as he did. Without me opening my mouth he commented on Coach Bob and his methods. I took the cue and asked, point blank, how he thought the lessons went for the kids. He gave me a thumbs up which was a bit of a relief. He said the kids really ’took’ to Coach Bob, especially being the first time meeting him. Added to that, it was their first time being exposed to water and swimming in it. Then I asked about his wife and sister.

His answer made me smile. He said that all three adults got off on the wrong foot with Coach Bob as none showed up wearing bathing suits. Junior quickly added that none of them owned a bathing suit. By then he was laughing. I had no idea where this was going. Junior said Coach Bob told them all he wasn’t going to teach anybody wearing clothes. When I heard that I had to ask about the kids if they didn’t have suits. I got a one word answer… "underwear". That hit me right away and I immediately asked “You too?” and he nodded affirmatively with a BIG smile. The next question was if it was the same for his wife and sister and he, again, nodded with an even bigger smile. I stood there with what had to be a look of disbelief. I don’t have any notes about it but as I sit here writing this I’m smiling. In any case he explained that the women waded into the water with their clothes on and then took their shorts and tops off under the water. He told me he was wearing boxer shorts so it wasn’t a problem for him. Next question from me had to do the other people who were taking lessons with them as I knew Coach wouldn’t do it without at least ten. Still smiling, he said he told the women that he’d paid the money and they better get to it and to forget the other people. I had a hard time picturing the two of them going through the drills in just their underwear. But, that tied in with something I’d never been able to fathom about how women think. They made it seem like some sort of crime when a man would see their underwear but thought nothing about parading around in a bathing suit, especially the two piece kind that were very much in vogue at the time. I took the opportunity to expouse my observation to Junior and after a few seconds nodded in agreement with me. We were both smiling at that point. Not wanting to give my panty fetish away I changed the subject and asked  if he thought completion of the lessons would change the negative thoughts about being near or in the water for all of them. Getting serious he stated that he and his wife were OK with it but Mattie might be a “hold-out”. I needed to get going to the garage and told him I’d check with him the next evening.

I was late to the garage and all the others, including Buster, were there. The car had been offloaded and was already on the jack stands. Racing on Saturday night had been relatively calm and there were no major incidents. However, Cliffy wanted every nut and bolt be checked. I was headed for the rear end when he pulled me aside and told me not to bother changing the rod bearings. I had a hard time to keep from smiling when he told me he’d been thinking about it for a while. He said he'd not seen that much wear on the last two sets of bearings I’d changed so figured they’d be OK. I knew that it was just BS and his father had to have talked to him. I was happy because it gave me two hours of my life back. Everything was checked over and we were on our way home by 10pm. Alan and I resumed our racing on our way home and, as usual, I beat him.

I ‘d been concerned about Elle starting her period again and how it might affect our sailing ‘date’ for the next day. Elle’s mother was more than willing to come over to watch the kids in the morning with Mattie and Martha watching them in the afternoon. With all the stuff going on at work, involvement with the race car, activities the kids were involved in, Elle's unexpected pregnancy we’d not had much ‘private time’ and I was really looking forward to a day on the bay with her and away from everybody. I’d checked with my father about the weather and he said we’d have a perfect day... light air in the morning with  the usual sea breeze in the afternoon. As I pulled in the driveway I was apprehensive about how I’d find Elle.

She was in bed but happily surprised that I was home in time to find her awake. I didn’t ‘beat around the bush’ and came right out and asked the status of her period. When  she told me her pad was almost completely clear I breathed a big sigh of relief, loud enough for her to hear it. Climbing into bed I hinted at something more than just snuggling but she told me she wanted to wait because she didn’t want to trigger any bleeding. I, of course, was disappointed but she smiled at me and told me she’d make it up to me. I was smart enough not to ‘push’ the subject and fell asleep contemplating what I hoped would happen on our trip.

To be continued…