Those Were the Days

Isn't it funny how a particular smell or taste can take you back to a specific memory of something in your childhood?

Tonight I was scrounging for something to make for dinner. There's not much here, sad to say, because I really don't like shopping much, so I procrastinate forever. Anyway, we had a dab of tuna salad left and a dab of egg salad left and I mixed them together (= tuna and egg salad) and made a sandwich. One bite and I was transported back to when I was a kid and we used to go boating as a family.

Now Mom was never a big fan of boating, to put it mildly, but the rest of us enjoyed it a lot, and really I have some wonderful, great memories of it all. Getting the food ready the night before (or sometimes early in the morning) - packing an ice chest of sodas and bags of food, including... you guessed it... tuna and egg salad. Stopping for donuts on the way out of town. A somewhat long drive (to us) in the back of the pick-up to the lake of our choosing for the day - often Pyramid or Castaic or Buena Vista. Walking barefoot on the dock while Mom and Dad backed the boat into the water, anxious and excited. Piling into the boat and heading off to score the perfect spot to call our own for the day. Swimming, water skiing, exploring, playing, reading - sometimes just the four of us and sometimes with extended family and/or friends.

I remember often we used to have to make our sandwiches and carry them out to the lake with our sodas, eating them in waist-deep water, to avoid being stung by bees.

I remember learning how to ski, being told how to do everything except what to do when you fall - that is, let go of the rope.

I remember how Dad tied our beginner water skis together while we were learning how to ski. That's the hardest part - keeping your feet together.

I remember specifically boating with some cousins, my grandma and Pop, their friends the Tuckers, some of Dad's friends from work, and sometimes Deb and I were allowed to bring a buddy along ourselves.

Good memories, of good times. Thanks, both of you, Mom and Dad.