Just The Lovely

My family peaked in the late 80's I'd say. Everyone was alive, mobile, younger, and together. At least most of us were. Sundays at my grandparents house always brought an adventure of some sort, crafted mostly by the adults. I'm convinced now that my family is brilliantly creative but lacks the discipline to really cultivate that creativity. Possibly they don't recognize it for what it is. I'm pretty sure we'd make a great family case study for ADD also.

We would jump off a ladder placed on the dock and swing out into the canal on a poorly constructed rope swing system which led to disaster one time when my uncle failed to let go.  The rope swing became "that which we don't speak of".

We tooled around the Gulf of Mexico in the base of a catamaran that floated up  the canal during a hurricane. My grandpa slapped a motor on that baby and we were good to go....except for the lack of railings which led to hilarity when an uncle fell overboard in his chair. My other uncle followed when he tried to save him. Then my dad followed the 2nd uncle. Three grown men overboard in a matter of seconds. I bet if you asked the people who lived along the Gulf and the canals during that time, they would tell you that they indeed saw a family float by on a catamaran singing Christmas carols at the top of our lungs. They would tell you they indeed saw that same catamaran broken down in the harbor more than once.

The Grand Poobah of all hijinx came after huge storms, when the street in front of the house filled with water. Out came canoes, paddle boats, floats, beach balls, oil rigs, etc.. Rusty nails? Snakes? Bah! We were fearless! We even made the newspaper on at least a couple of occassions.

When my youngest uncle married my Aunt Elise, she was quickly initiated.....in Chicago.....at the Sears Tower. You don't fool around in the Sears Tower. It was closing time. Somehow we had gotten ahold of those fake blood capsules you put in your mouth, and some of us looked like a bloody mess. We were running around, generally acting like idiots, when my aunt started to climb up a huge down escalator.  This is when an unamused security guard decided it was time for us to leave.

I could go on with more stories, but honestly, I saw you yawn back at the catamaran story. Plus I've run out of time on my break.  Thanks for letting me tell you all of this, since it puts in perspective why I felt the need to climb on my roof to watch the fireworks last year, and why I subsequently fell of said roof resulting in broken ribs among other things. I thought of my uncle, dad, and grandpa as I fell and remembered all the things THEY survived and knew I'd be ok. Thanks for reading.