And the boat horn blew again........

Well, with the end of Labor Day it appears as though we have officially put another summer to bed.  Many things happened during the summer of 2012.  We said goodbye to another one of my grandparents at the beginning of it.  Adam was diagnosed with dyslexia and survived a serious go-cart accident in the middle of it (Luckily, the two were in no way related!) and we ventured back to Arkansas at the end of it. 

For over 25 years my sister and I have taken a trip to Arkansas with my dad.  The tradition began back when Caterpillar tractor company shut down for two weeks every July to provide a company-wide vacation time.  Dad began to take us to a beautiful lake near Hot Springs called Lake Ouachita.  We stayed at the same resort for most of those years, a little family owned business called Shangri-La.  I have always intended to write a book about our history there and hope to call it "Growing up Ouachita" because we literally, grew up there.

My sister Molly and I learned to ski on that lake and for most of the 25 years dad had the same boat.  It took me a loooooong time to get up on skis but when I finally did, dad blew the boat horn as an auditory message to the skier that said "good job kid, you DID it."  Every year we returned to the lake and every year we skied once again.  Each time we finally "got up" dad blew the horn.  It was an expected tradition for me and one that I look back on fondly.  Years later our oldest son Alex learned to ski on the same lake and behind the very same boat. 

As we got older some things changed as they always do.  My sister is now "aunt Molly" with her own boat in Missouri and still a great skier.  My dad is retired now and living out side of Hot Springs.  He still keeps a boat on lake Ouachita, though sadly, not the same boat of our 25 + year history.  (Although this NEW boat has a slide and is a BIG HIT with the grand kids).

Last month, we were back on lake Ouachita once more and enjoying some family time boating.  Alex learned to ski several years ago and quickly became confident and perhaps a little cocky as only 12 year old boys can.  He spent lots of time watching his aunt Molly slalom ski and was frequently envious.  Dad decided that this was the year to really try and get Alex to slalom.

Learning to ski using only one can be a definite challenge for anyone, let alone the highly un-athletic like my son and myself.  The long-standing joke in our boat was that when you were learning to get up on one ski it was gonna be a "really hard pull."  Alex experienced this first hand many times.

 The great thing about this kid is that he NEVER gave up.  He never whined.  He never complained.  He just kept trying over and over and over.  Those of us in the boat circled MANY times and returned the rope to him so he could try again and again..........and again.

He was determined and as predicted, it was a REALLY hard pull.

He focused, prayed and I am sure in his head at least, he cussed just a little at the difficulty of this task  But his aunt Molly could do it and he REALLY wanted to be successful.  Many many attempts later, he finally opened his eyes to discover himself on top of the water on ONE ski.  He was so excited and you could literally read the word "pride" on his face.  He stayed up and skied for a few minutes to enjoy his new-found success before tossing the rope and giving up to drag his exhausted adolescent body into the boat.

But prior to ending his ride, as the sun set late on that August day over lake Ouachita those of us in the boat cheered as dad blew the boat horn once again.