Last Updated on Tuesday, 5 January 2010 07:51
Written by Melinda
Sunday, June 29th, 2008
I think sometimes I view my experiences with new situations through the eyes of an innocent child, as if it were the very first time. In many ways, it IS the first time I have experienced them. I have missed out on a lot in my life because I was sheltered and afraid to try new things. I didn’t like getting out of my comfort zones (I even suffered separation anxiety once I started attending elementary school). These emotional isolations became worse when I was overweight as a teenager and into adulthood. I never attended parties, went horseback riding, attended prom, or even have my senior pictures taken. When invited to showers, parties or events, I declined and always made excuses as to why I could not attend.
When I lost weight, I wanted my life to be DIFFERENT! I wanted to LIVE, experience, feel, think, learn! I believe that one reason I was so unhappy when I was overweight is that my life was boring and I did not enjoy living it. I looked at others and secretly dreamed of better and more exciting things for myself. My goal for a thin life was to live it with new events and experiences.
One new experience for me was to start dating. But that is an entirely different story! But when Tim and I started dating last July, he asked if I would like to take a trip to the lake for a day out. He owns an Ebbtide much like the picture above (but it is an older model, white and marroon). It was such a wonderful experience! I only remember being on a boat one time as a child when my uncle took us for a brief ride around the lake.
Last year’s visit to the lake was an entirely new and different experience, just like I had planned to have! However, it was around the time that I had my gallladder removed and I was still recuperating. I tried to hide the fact that I had pain, but Tim knew. We visited the lake four times last summer. Each time, I was not able to fully enjoy the outings because later I had plastic surgery and then was recuperating from it!
Since then, I’ve been waiting on summer to come so that we could get back out on the lake. The memories of the sound the water made as it lapped against the boat, the sun shining down on us as we swam in a small cove caused anticipation to grow inside my heart. FINALLY the time arrived! We spent Friday gathering my protein products, filling the cooler full of gastric friendly food and drinks, and buying new beach towels. Saturday morning we went out to breakfast, packed up the truck, then drove to Tim’s parents’ home where he stores his boat. We loaded the boat and drove on another 45 minutes to the lake.
Tim gave verbal instructions on how to start the boat, put it in reverse, use the “down” button to get the lower unit into the water, then put it in “forward” gear to drive to the small docking area where he would be standing & waiting. I repeated the instructions back to him twice, and then continued saying them aloud as not to forget them while he walked back to the truck. He set the boat into the water, I HAD to drive it around to a small dock so that he could park the truck and trailer in the lot! Oh Lord I was scared to death. What if I hit something? What if I broke the engine? Gracious mercy, I proceeded with so much caution… at one point I just let it sit in neutral and as I saw him approach the small dock, I put it into “Forward” and putted very slowly to where he stood waiting. Luckily he reached out and guided the boat so that he could jump in! My stomach was so nervous, but it was enthralling! I was on an adventure, of sorts.
There is a small patch of land in the middle of the lake a few miles from the docking station. It’s called “First Island” and that’s where Tim planned on stopping so that Missy (the dog) could get out and walk around and potty. As you can tell from the picture above, there is a section in the front where 3 people can comfortably sit. Instead of sitting in the captain’s chair behind the glass (like I did last year) I sat in the front and watched the waves crash against the boat. I listened intently as the waves hit both sides, “swish” on the left, “whoosh” on the right. “Swish” on the left, “whoosh” on the right. Green ripples of water drifted towards me, as far as the eye could see (miles and miles). A boat came passing on the left of us, causing larger ripples and waves. Tim drove into them, and the boat soared up a bit so that the ride was not quite as smooth. Water came splashing up onto me, and I shreeked! Of course Tim laughed! Once again, I heard the constant sound “Swish” on the left, “whoosh” on the right.
Unlike a street where you drive on your side of the yellow lines, and in its narrowness, the lake seemed to be enormously wide! I asked, “How wide is this anyway?” Tim said it’s about 1/4 mile wide, but it sure seemed like a mile to me! And up ahead, and far behind, miles and miles of water and green trees surrounded each side. It looked like mountains around us as well. I couldn’t differentiate the colors of green when looking into the distance, but when up close to the trees, each color stood out brightly. Some trees were light green, almost yellow, while others were a dark forest hunter green.
When we arrived at First Island, I started unpacking our lunch. I was hungry! A boat of young people approached and the people started hollering, “Hello! Woohoo!” They docked next to us and asked Tim if he would take their picture. They were vacationing from Indiana. It didn’t take long before three girls approached the boat where I was trying to get food ready. “Hey, you have to come over here… you two are special people!” I thought, “Tim must know them!” He was chatting away with one of the guys from the boat, so I got out as not to appear anti-social. I felt a bit awkward BECAUSE this was the very first time I appeared in public, at a public location in my bikini. I have worn it at home laying in the sun, and at Mike’s a few times to swim. But, I had never worn this bikini (the first I’ve had since elementary school) in a public place where people could actually approach and see me! I felt a bit inhibited… could these girls tell I had loose skin on my legs? What about the loose skin on my tummy? I just felt weird.
It didn’t take me too long to relax. I looked at these girls in their bikinis and one of them had a large midsection. They were all very pretty, but hey! Look! She’s got on a bikini and she is not Miss Flat Tummy – and she looks awesome! It didn’t take me too long to figure out that these young people were having a good time with the help of some type of alcohol. They acted like they had known us for years, asking if we wanted beer (which I hate beer and Tim does NOT drink while on the lake as sun, boats, and alcohol do not mix), where we were from, and what we did for a living. Their designated driver and Tim talked like they were best friends! Going back to the point of my comfort zone, talking to strangers has always been a difficult thing for me. I remained a bit quiet but chatted with the girls for a few minutes, then made my way back to the boat.
Most of the time I freeze to death, but I jumped into the water and it was great! Tim took out his wetsuit and put me in it so that helped me warm up. We put on our face masks and I used the snorkel. I never knew how these worked so this was the first time I experienced it. I saw small fish at the bottom and came up out of the water exclaiming, “Tim, I see fish down there!” He laughed and said, “If you stand real still, they will nibble at your toes.” This was NOT funny to me! I started dancing and yelling, “BUT I don’t want them to nibble on my toes!” I almost freaked for a moment, and then resorted to swimming out into the deeper section where I had to tread water so that the fish would not see me at a standstill. I found two shells that I dived into the water for, and made Tim carry them in his pocket. After, I laid out in the sun
on an airfloat. We then found a small cove to swim at.
The highlight of the day was the thunderstorm! We knew that there was a possibility for rain but decided to go anyway. Recently there have been chances of rain but most of the day ends up being sunny and gorgeous. I did not want incorrect information to ruin my plans! As forecasted, it started to cloud up and then pour down rain. We had a cover awning on the boat which helped us stay dry. But then it started lightening. Tim backed the boat up into the cove more, and we were surrounded by overtowering trees. It was beautiful, and I intently listened as the rain dripped from the trees overhead, darkness peering out from the trees into the cove. Although I was frightened for a little while, it was an experience that I was glad to have. Surely this would be a worthy journal entry for this day. We watched as the cloud dissipated, and resumed our lake time with swimming, eating our evening dinner and more sunbathing. At day’s end, it was the best lake experience I ever had.
