30 Years in a Housetruck

Page Fifteen: Time Off

Just so no one gets the impression that things were all dour and lifeless, we did manage to do a few enjoyable things in between being worked like mules.

There were two young women that worked in the office of Kitty's interior decorating business on Jeep and Kitty's property. One (or both of them) took an interest in Woodley, and had the means to provide some entertainment. Most days, she would drive Daddy's Corvette to work, but it also turned out that her dad had a ski boat. One weekend after the weather turned nice, we all went out on Fern Ridge Reservoir for some water skiing. I hadn't been on skis for at least ten years, but the knack came back fairly quickly. It helped a lot that the boat was of modern hull design, and had a powerful engine. I learned to water ski being hauled around behind a little underpowered runabout on the Colorado River, and the boat would take forever to get to plane, meaning that getting up out of the water on the skis and in good form was a difficult struggle that took way too long.

Another time a neighbor invited us to borrow their horses, and we took an all afternoon ride over the ridge and into a secluded valley. Of course, on the way home the horses got barn fever and wanted to run the last half mile or so home. Sarge kept yelling at us to reign them in, but eventually, Woodley's horse broke into a gallop, inciting the other horses to run also, and we all got a chance to imagine ourselves in the Kentucky Derby. Woodley and I both got yelled at quite a bit afterwards, but I don't know that there was any way we could have kept those lazy barn stall layabouts in a slow walk when they saw home.

There was also that time Sarge took us fishing in a slough out somewhere near Franklin. It was pretty boring, and we didn't catch anything. I was used to fishing off the Redondo Beach pier, catching mackerel and bonita, or fresh water fishing in Clear Lake in Northern California. At least you could count on hooking a few bluegills to throw back.

Come to think of it, Sarge ripped off my fishing pole after that particular expedition.

Oh, I was supposed to be concentrating on having a good time. Well, there's a big celebration with a surprise ending just around the corner….