THE WATER SKIER

One day I noticed in the local "Penny saver" what looked like a real good buy for a speedboat. I knew Eunice always wanted a boat to use in summer to be kept at the swim club we belonged to at Lake Mahopac. As I had a little extra cash,
I asked Eunice if we should look at it and if we liked it, buy it. She jumped at the chance and we called the owner, who was a local policeman, if we could take a look at it. Well, it was kept in his garage and all the time he had when not on the job, he polished and cleaned it. *************

Suffice it to say, it was in immaculate condition and was a beautiful little boat. it was an almost new Silverline, 19' long with an 80 HP outboard engine. The boat was fully loaded and ready to go, the price was right and we decided to buy it on the spot. I gave him the cash, took my car to get a trailer hitch put on, came back, hooked it up and drove it to the lake. We rented a slip, launched it and it floated. The engine started right up so we went for a spin. *************************************************************

Eunice was ecstatic. There was a pair of Water Skis and all the paraphernalia that goes with it so Eunice said she has to learn to water ski. Well, the next day she gave it a shot. She got in the water, got all hooked up, and I started to move. Eunice came up about halfway out of the water and plopped back in again. She just couldn't do it. We decided to take the boat to cape Cod for a couple of weeks and did the following week. We got a mooring in little Pleasant Bay and I called a Ski instructor to make an appointment the next day. He merely showed her one thing and she was up and skiing. He noticed she was coming up and out of the water with her knees and arms bent, so he told her to lean back and to keep her knees and arms straight, relax and let the boat pull her out of the water. It worked the first time and she was skiing all over the place. She was a natural. The only thing that got her out of the water after that was when the lake froze.********

Eunice wrote a poem so let her tell you her experience. It's called THE WATER SKIER********

Emerald pools surround me.
Muscles expand and then contract,
Blood rushes,
Suddenly, I am thrust up and out,
as if being born;
The rope holds tight,
like a maternal cord,
Guiding me as I fly.
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The sun lies upon my back,
like wings, that open and close,
pushing me forward,
towards flying geese,
Past bending trees,
I am the wind,
I am the sea,
Gliding on painted glass.
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The rope breaks,
I fall, deep, into darkness,
into sleep,
falling.
A force holds me,
Then floats me towards the sky,
Releasing me in the air,
Where a butterfly,
dances with the breeze,
and dissapears,
Journeying to another life...
Reborn...
Set free...
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Eunice Verdi, Lake Mahopac, 1972