Vacation part 3 - Skiing

This trip was the one-in-a-million where Mellow Yellow performed at her peak. She was begging us to ski, to show off how great she was performing. When we were kids, the boat served one purpose—pulling us on a tube, skis, wakeboard or whatever contraption dad would allow. We would fight for turns in the spotlight, refusing to get tired thus relinquishing the rope.

We all remember fondly those days, as now we are lucky to make one trip on the boat per season, even luckier to have to boat in good working condition.

So why am I telling you all this? Sure, the memories are nice but there is another reason. In our anticipation to bring back to life the vacations of our childhood, we (I) sometimes forget how much things have changed (size, weight, stamina, athletacism, etc).

A good example s illustrated below. When we were kids and we were cold, wet and tired, the best place on mellow yellow to cuddle up was this little cuddy. Biscuit and I remember fitting both of us int here at a time with a big bath towel around us, bouncing with each wake, heading back to the dock for the night.



And for perspective, here is a grown up biscuit in the same cuddy.



Skiing is like riding a bike, none of us have forgotten or lost our ability. The time spent behind the boat has decreased exponentially resulting in the rooster tail of spray from our ski isn’t as tall, the slice through the wake isn’t as quick and smooth, and the angle on the water isn’t as sharp. The most noticeable change for me is how loud that voice is. The voice that reminds me of how painful it is to bite it. The voice that says, don’t push yourself too hard, you don’t want to be aching the rest of the trip. The voice that represents fear has gotten much louder and more persuasive.

Being that we were the only ones on the lake and mellow yellow was running so smoothly, the glass surface of the water was calling us. We all skied successfully. It just wasn’t the as long, sharp or tight as I remember it.