An Eye on the Weather
Sailing Away 1949
As a child I was perfectly happy playing by myself. My imagination allowed me to sail away on this old black inner tube -back in a day when inner tubes were really just that - the tubes that kept automobile tires full of air. Until they sprung a leak. When they could no longer be properly patched they became ships that sailed out to sea. So here I am, bare foot and brown from the sun on a summer day sailing on the sea of grass.
It was perhaps this summer that my inner tube and I were packed in the car along with my family and a picnic basket and taken out to the summer cottage of a family friend. I recall the trip out there - it seemed to take forever. Our car overheated and dad pulled to the side of the road. We were part of a caravan of friends and family so we all found a place in one or more of the other cars and continued on our way.
Once at the cottage I took my inner tube to down to the lake, stepped in and floated out to sea. I was lulled by the waves, warmed by the summer sun and I basked in my solitary voyage. At some point my mother or perhaps my father looked around and asked "Where's Cindi?" And there I was - out in the middle of my ocean, far, far from land and totally unaware of the panic that ensued on shore.
A rowboat filled with strangers was beckoned to assist in the high sea rescue of the little sailor who was adrift in the dangerous tides. They came alongside (Ahoy Matie!) and someone held out a fishing net for me to grab on to (party poopers) and rowed me back to shore. My pirate ship was confiscated and I was forced into landlubberhood for the rest of the day.
Perhaps this picture was taken as a tribute to my survival, a remembrance of my day at sea, or a reminder to keep an eye on the salty sailor in me.
Check out more Sepia Saturday adventures HERE
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9 comments:
nice. such a different experience for you and your parents as you drifted happily out to sea. i remember long trips to the cottage when i was young. riding on the floor of the car it was so full. no seat belts in those days.
This reminded me of my younger day climbs to the tip-top of a huge oak tree near my home. Ah, I had the best childhood and it sounds like you did too. Nice SS!
I can just picture you drifting happily off to sea while the adults panicked. You are adorable in both photos.
The Trouble With Landlubbers Is They All Want You To Just Like Them!
Wonderful photos and memories ...how adults spoilt our fun back then! I love it that you created your own magic.
I like your photos. You were adorable. I also like how you shared your experience. As I was reading I was thinking, "she was an introvert." And then I noticed "a wanna-be hermit" in your blog title. I wonder if all introverts think so creatively. Do you still think creatively as an adult? Great post!
No. Being creative, little Cyndi just determined to never grow up so as to never lose her childlike creativity. And so she bobs along in life, far, far out, while the rest of us dance up and down the shores of adulthood trying to call her in. She doesn't come.
Great story of relaxation, child neglect, summertime and happy end...:)
One friend of mine fell from a pneumatic mattress, because of a bigger seawave, they guessed.
He panicked, they guessed again, and just...didn't have a happy rescue like you did.
He was 20.
A nice hunk, but not a good, calm swimmer, apparently.
He should have caught his breath while swimming backstroke, slowly, floating face/belly-up and moving his legs for buoyancy.
Basic swimming is a crucial skill for surviving.
We all should learn it, and CPR, too! :)
These are wonderful memories. A tube was a fascinating thing and they worked so well on water, except they were slippery. oops!
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