Dunks and Donuts

Sunday, June 25, 2006

The archangel had fallen. He was engaged. Carrie was taking the news rather well, with the developing rumors that he was moving to New York on top of it.

Meanwhile, from 1:30 to nine o’clock, Jimmy, Loraine and baby Donald, OLeif and Collette, Joe (returning for awhile after camp before heading to the movies with Wallace and Curly) and Rose, Ben-Hur, Susie and Sunrise, Molly, Goofy, Daisy, and Gaston joined the Wheels at the house on the lake at Augusta Shores.

Upon arrival, the kids hit the lake and the boats. OLeif splashed right into the mud in his good corduroys and work shoes (which his boss had technically purchased) and Rose trudged in behind wearing jeans and Madge’s Headnoise t-shirt from Chicago.

They splashed around for a good while. Rose momentarily excused herself to loose her lunch and returned awhile later to join back in the fun.

“So where were you?” OLeif called to her from the water.

“I threw up,” Rose said grumpily, and jumped back into the water as if nothing had happened.

And so Jimmy and OLeif dunked all the boys in the floating donut. They sent Gaston flying upside down and backwards in one of their first attempts.

“Looked just like a rag doll flying through the air,” Bob chuckled, resting his chin in his hands.

Meanwhile, Molly, Daisy, and the other ladies had gone inside to learn how to knit from Madge. Rose and Sunrise, however, had gone off to find turtles.

“Rose is on a turtle hunt,” Bob said.

He was quite amused by the youth, as usual.

Soon, Ben-Hur and Goofy followed them in the paddle boat, with Susie floating in the water behind, hanging on to the back of the boat.

“Oh, Susie has quite the life back there,” Bob noted.

“Tah-tah.” OLeif interpreted her thoughts aloud, twirling the beach umbrella he held in his hand.

“Give me that umbrella, young man,” Jimmy imitated a British accent for her as well.

“Snip-snap,” OLeif added.

“Faster, boys, faster,” Bob said for her as well.

Soon, from far off, they saw Goofy attempting to board ship with the girls.

“Don’t you dare. Nuh-uh.” Rose commanded from the back of the canoe, her voice echoing mightily across the waters.

And so Goofy didn’t dare. But Ben-Hur did and settled himself comfortably and shirtless in the middle of the canoe.

“Whoo!” He called out, both arms extended into the air.

“I feel like one of those kings,” Ben-Hur’s voice echoed across the lake as he sipped his soda, lazily.

The men-folk and Collette back on the shore, chuckled at this.

“Pharaoh,” OLeif laughed. “Oh, great Poupon. That’s what we’ll call him.”

“Yeah, you should get out there with the umbrella, and help him to shore,” Jimmy agreed. “Oh, hail, the great Poupon,” he called out to him.

“‘ Faster, girls, faster,’” Bob spoke for Ben-Hur.

“With his drink of luxury,” OLeif chuckled.

“Here, send me that oar,” Ben-Hur called out to Jimmy.

Jimmy aimed and threw, but the paddle landed short, and so the girls began to row towards it. Ben-Hur realized that his help was needed.

“Here, I’ll help you paddle,” he said, pushing his hands through the water.

And soon he had his own paddle and the three were headed savage-like down the lake.

“I think I hear Indian chants,” Bob said laughing to himself.

“Oooh wah ha-ha, Oooh wah ha-ha,” OLeif obliged the moment.

“Steer, Rose, steer!” They heard Ben-Hur cry out to her as they floated off.

And shortly later a belch echoed across the water. The shore-folk just chuckled and shook their heads.

When the kids had still not returned awhile later, and Susie and Goofy had also disappeared in the paddle boat, OLeif and Collette drove around with Joe (who had just arrived) and Gaston to where they had landed their crafts. The “Tarzan swing” as Bob called it – and they all took their turns splashing grandly into the lake from the great rope. Collette and Molly took pictures later in the evening after barbecue.

Rose’s technique was to hang on to the rope, looking rather like a pencil, until she decided to adopt the method of pulling the floating donut around her waist and then letting go once the swing was a good height above the water. Ben-Hur liked to swing until he landed back on the bank. Susie made some terrific let-go’s above the water. Sunrise liked to keep swinging. And Goofy always managed to let go almost before he swung above the water.

“Apparently there must be an art to this,” Bob observed, as he and Collette watched the action.

“Must be harder than it looks,” Collette agreed.

S’mores and fire-sticks awaited following the great swinging as the stars began to twinkle above the hills.