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My husband and I purchased a boat late last year. Yippee Skippy!

We waited patiently throughout the winter months for spring – and our new vessel – to arrive. In late April, we were told, our boat would be ‘coming off the line’ and would be ready to ship within 4-5 days. Well, not so much. Another month would pass before we could make the three-hour drive to the dealership to take possession of our new toy. And even then, we had to poke and prod the salesman every step of the way for information.

In any case, the day finally arrived, and we were sorely disappointed. Yes, the boat was there – and she was a beauty. But it was still in the process of getting detailed and we had to navigate around puddles of water and equipment and a greasy floor to look her over. When we first met with the salesman back in October, we had been impressed with his descriptions of how, when we came to get our new boat the following spring, he would hook it up to our trailer for us and then unhook it so we could learn how to do it ourselves. He would make sure we understood the process and what we had to do.

We were also told he would take us to a small lake nearby and we would launch the boat, take it out in the water so he could demonstrate how to safely operate it and use the instrumentation – how everything worked – and finally, he would show us how to load it back on to the trailer. This whole boating thing, as we’d told him, was entirely new to us so I was quite impressed with what awaited us when the time came to get our new boat!

When we picked up the boat, there was nothing of the sort. He helped us hook it up, wished us well and that was it. Said he’d check in with us in a few days to see how things were going. You guessed it: crickets. More than a month after getting our new boat, we’ve yet to hear from him.

To make matters worse, as we were looking the boat over, I commented on the tires on the trailer. They looked a little low. “Oh, no”, he told me. They were fine. He was a real stickler for tires being properly inflated, he said. Once we were out of Kansas City on our way home, we stopped at a rest area. Bill checked the tire pressure. Two of the four trailer tires were in the range of 20 psi, nearly thirty pounds of pressure lower than they should have been!

Also, while we were still at the dealership, I commented on the orientation of the boat engine which was nearly parallel to the ground. We’d been reading and watching a ‘boat load’ of videos and while there is some dissension on the topic, we’d been made aware of the importance of using a transom saver, a device that protects a boat’s transom from stress, especially when towing the boat over long distances.

Now, I may not be getting the details exactly right in my description of this but when we questioned the salesman about our concerns – what about a transom saver, we asked – he assured us that the boat manufacturer – and here he pointed to a place on the transom (the flat, vertical structure at the very back of the boat) – had provided a support intended for just that purpose. However, once we got home and my husband resumed his research on the topic, he learned that this support mechanism is only intended for use while the boat is being stored, and certainly not for a long haul. There is a risk of damage if the engine is not properly supported when the boat is being trailered.

Thus began our search for a transom saver and the means to mount it to our trailer. By now I’ve probably bored my Readers with extraneous detail so suffice it to say, we met with numerous obstacles and roadblocks to achieving our goal. However, said transom saver has, at last, been mounted. We are good to go. Hurray! Let’s get on the water.

Not. So. Fast….

With a ton of rain the last several days and weeks, water levels are now dangerously high. In some places, boat ramps are closed and where they are open, boaters are advised to use caution as there is so much debris in the water which can be a) unsafe and b) a menace to hulls and propellers, both of which are quite costly to repair or replace.

These photos were taken yesterday. One gentleman who lives along the lake told me the water is still rising.

It doesn’t look like we’ll be out on the water – yet! – for another week, probably more.

Yes, our gratification has been very much delayed. What else can go wrong?!?

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The last few days my stats have skyrocketed. Normally, yeah. A good thing. But I’m a bit suspicious.

I’m just showing a dramatic increase in the number of Views. There are NO correlating number of Likes or Comments. This happened a few years ago where I had a gazillion number of views of my photos.

Has anyone else experienced this? Is someone, perhaps, hacking me or otherwise acting in a nefarious manner?

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quarter-inch is all we got overnight. it must have been a heavy downpour, regardless, as roses lie prostrate below our bedroom window.

I adhered to paved surfaces on my walk this morning, avoiding drenched grass, small puddles, and congregations of mud and street debris.

in other news, four children were discovered alive after more than a month alone in the Amazon rainforest.

my husband and son and I camped during a thunderstorm once. cozy between the two of them, I stayed warm and dry while holes in the corners of the tent made for a miserable night for my two bestest guys.

after far too much of a good thing, I’ve witnessed street after street of wet carpet, furniture, and other ephemera of people’s lives unceremoniously chucked to the curb.

victims of Katrina and other mighty gales have their own stories to tell, gargantuan tragedies unimaginable to endure.

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I’ve just finished reading Anne of Green Gables and could barely get through the last page, as I cried and sobbed, knowing I’d reached the end. What a wonderful book! Anne is my hero, as is L.M. Montgomery for writing such a heartwarming story.

A few years ago I read another classic I’d not ever picked up before, Little Women, an utterly charming read.

With that in mind, I’ve ordered a couple more that I passed up in my younger days: Charlotte’s Web and are you there god? it’s me, margaret. I’m eager to read them!

I adore these amazing classics. Others that I have read include Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, Rebecca, The Age of Innocence and Watership Down (really enjoyed that one).

Books make me happy. Readers, what books have YOU loved?

Here’s to inspired reading, everyone!

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ta petrodorf’s dulcet

squamish rays of pleiniff

timbre pitch ta realm

to exquisite fulgrims

of expansive joy.

*********************

come daybreak—

come glorious light

of early suspanto

a boondolfin of rapture

ta likes of which

*********************

will remain unmatched

for a lifetime

of wrain,

forever tributes

to Demartis,

*********************

elmulfous

benefactor,

ruler of every tract

of telacious land,

every hillside, every stream,

*********************

ta lowest valleys,

ta highest illiams

ta swiftest trumpas

ta mightiest neerorums

*********************

life forms, deeply skweedle before her