A Memorable Sunday Afternoon

We thought a good time would be for a group of us to take a pontoon ride up the Suwanee to Fanning Springs. Nine of us hopped aboard after lunch and set sail for the twelve mile journey north. The weather was sublime, mother natured cooperated beyond all expectations, and the camaraderie proved entertaining. We were privy to four alligators at varioius points along the shore, taking advatange of UV rays baking their hides. A plethora of turtles seemed to be aligned along fallen timbers, with each bend in the river. When no wildlife was in view, the flora provided the eye candy to keep every mile a memory. The ride out against the current took two hours until we began the trek back. That proved exciting. The wind had picked up by late afternoon, waves were coming in volume due to increased river traffic, and the load limit were testing my mettle. In a split second, a large wake caromed off the side, my throttle had decelerated too quickly and the human girth wasn’t distributed properly……the bow went under. We were taking on water. Holy shit! I never prepared for this situation. Dozens of thoughts pierced my mind in less than the blink of an eye. You get it. You know what I mean. When all emotions, senses, and instincts fire their respective synapses at the same time. My first inclination was to cover my neck. The trache stoma is of constant concern. My worst nightmare, from the onset of memorable dreams was that of drowning.  All at the same time, I was able to bank into the wake, throw the throttle into reverse, and suggesting bodies moving about in distribution. Disaster flashed in my mind’s eye. But more often than not, some unexplained power takes over my mental processes and bails me out once again. After the collective screams of panic, we were only worse by a couple pairs of wet shoes. But the lessons learned were once again priceless. Back on terra firma, many of us headed to the pool, others went home to do one thing or another, and some of us