10:00 AM - I get the wake up call. "I don't want to go." I think, and roll over with an ugh.
I know I signed up for this when I planned to spend a week with someone on vacation, but the thought of going jet skiing today is not something I look forward to. Potential excuses run through my head as I lay here with my eyes stubbornly still shut: "It's too hot, I don't know if my new steering cable is really working okay, I've already had more sun than I'm used to over the last few days, My back and shoulder are better from the swimming I've done lately, but both are still sore and what if I hurt them again?, I haven't yet stopped coughing from a summer cold, I didn't fall asleep until late and I'm too tired, I haven't been in almost a year and I'll have to relearn the intricacies of launching and docking, I don't have prescription goggles and I probably can't see the water conditions well enough to safely navigate! "
10:30 AM I roll out of bed begrudgingly and start to get ready, very slowly, as slowly as possible, while rehashing my excuses not to go every step of the way.
11:30 AM I'm finally ready. With no exuberance at all but with lots of annoyance, I head out with an enthusiastic companion to drive to the launch.
12:00 Noon We arrive at the boat launch park. It's hot as blazes, I feel dizzy, and I'm stressed over the issues that by now I've convinced myself are all likely possible causes of disasters just waiting to happen. When my jet ski doesn't start right up on the first few tries before approaching the landing, I burst out with the one excuse I believe can't be argued against. "I think I'm just getting too old for this!" I march solemnly back to the SUV and secretly hope it won't start at all. My companion, ever the optimist when it comes to jet skiing, keeps cranking until I hear, VROOMMMM VROOOMMM VROOOOMMMMMM rattle rattle ..... (Sigh) It's a go.
12:30 PM I push off the dock with a pounding heart while hoping the steering cable works and I that don't run into the rocks just a few feet away. It does and I don't.
12:45 PM My companion is riding strangely more so than the usual efforts to give the jet ski time to warm up. I maneuver my way over to shouting distance and discover his ski is running "like crap." I meander around the area in slow speed trying to get the hang of it again while he continues testing his ride. Now that I'm on the water, I don't know whether to hope for his issue to be an easy way to get out of doing this or not. Finally he decides to give it a try and we are off.
1:00 PM Wow, I'd forgotten how much fun this is and I smile to myself as I ride carefully along over the small waves. It is a fantastically beautiful day!
1:30 PM Woot! I speed up and try a few wave jumps over my companions wake. I follow him to a shore line of pristene white sandy beach but not until I do a few figure eights and 360s.
2:00 PM Anchored near the tide line, I discover his jet ski isn't doing great but it's manageable. In case our day should be cut short I decide to go right for a cold beer, then another along with a sandwich followed by a swim. By now I am more than anxious to ride again out over the bright blue sea.
2:30 PM Yeah! Two beers worth of courage later and I'm jumping wakes with the best of them across to a tiny island in the middle of an uncharted inlet. This is good!
3:00 PM Wheeeee! More riding, more jumping, along with many more figure eights until I work up a center back wash that makes jumping over it an air catching experience par excellence!
3:30 PM Back to the beach for another beer, snacks, floating around in the ocean and beach combing. I find a long walking stick shaped piece of driftwood and a nice burly piece that will look great with my collection. I even invent a new game, "Beach Golf!" Rules: Use long stick to whack oyster shells into crab holes.
4:30 PM A storm is moving in and the dark clouds look like thunder heads. So ready or not it is time to head back. I pause and thankfully stare out at the sea with the lightly cool waves splashing around me before jumping on my trusty water steed. I perform every trick I can think of in-between zooming at high speed and wave jumping back toward the landing.
5:00 PM I think to myself, "I'm definitely NOT too old for this, and too bad there is lightening in that storm because "I don't want to go" back home!" Thank Goodness!!! Today was the day I beat my negative self talk and practiced "J" from the ABCs, "Just do it!" The next time I get this kind of wake up call, I will definitely roll out of bed with enthusiasm!
Copyright 2014 Wanda Hope Carter all rights not otherwise assigned are reserved. No reprint without express written permission.
