By Olivene Godfrey
BUILDING A BOAT AND MORE IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS....
One autumn day, back in the early 1950s, my late husband, who was in his 20s at the time, was a genius when it came to working with his hands, and he decided to build a small motor boat on our large enclosed back porch during the winter months. He nearly always accomplished his goals and was confident he could have the boat ready to launch in the lake by the spring. Never mind that he had never built a boat and to my knowledge had never known anyone who had. He didn't let that stop him from buying the materials and starting work on his project.
Since we had owned a television set, Ralph had become the most avid fan of it than anyone I had ever known. But, that winter, he gave up watching his favorite T.V, shows so he could devote all of his time working on the boat. And he did have the boat ready to put in the Tennessee lake where the locals fished and enjoyed recreational activities. He had printed my name on the boat and it was launched and floated beautifully.
Meanwhile, my sister, Jeanette, and her husband, Charles had bought a small cabin cruiser and they and their two children joined us most every Sunday that year on the lake where we enjoyed the water and sunshine and boating and fishing and the men skied. We wore our swim suits under our shots and shirts and packed picnic lunches and that was the beginning of several summers we spent on the lake. We would find a good spot on the lake shore in a bay and one night we camped out and during the night the rains came down in torrents but our spirits weren't dampened and we enjoyed the next day at the lake.
One Sunday, the men decided it was high time Jeanette and I learned to water ski. We weren't enthusiastic about it but donned life jackets and got fitted with the skis. We were young and daring and thinking we were fearless, I couldn't manage to come up out of he water, as sports had never been my forte, and I was sputtering and thinking I was drowning when Ralph rescued me. Next, it was Jeanette's turn, and amazingly she came up out of the water and was doing a pretty good job of gliding across the lake. She said later, she was terrified but was to scared to try to stop and she started screaming at the top of her voice for Charles to stop the boat. Her voice, sounding off with explicit language, rang across the lake. Finally, Charles stopped the boat and Jeanette was furious when she returned to the shore.
My sister, Joan, and her family also joined us some Sundays at the lake and we all had a great time. Ah, those were the good old days when we were young and carefree and it frightens me now when I remember some of the risks we took. For instance, one vacation day, Ralph and I took the small boat out in the Tennessee River and were oblivious to the dangers.
BUILDING A BOAT AND MORE IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS....
One autumn day, back in the early 1950s, my late husband, who was in his 20s at the time, was a genius when it came to working with his hands, and he decided to build a small motor boat on our large enclosed back porch during the winter months. He nearly always accomplished his goals and was confident he could have the boat ready to launch in the lake by the spring. Never mind that he had never built a boat and to my knowledge had never known anyone who had. He didn't let that stop him from buying the materials and starting work on his project.
Since we had owned a television set, Ralph had become the most avid fan of it than anyone I had ever known. But, that winter, he gave up watching his favorite T.V, shows so he could devote all of his time working on the boat. And he did have the boat ready to put in the Tennessee lake where the locals fished and enjoyed recreational activities. He had printed my name on the boat and it was launched and floated beautifully.
Meanwhile, my sister, Jeanette, and her husband, Charles had bought a small cabin cruiser and they and their two children joined us most every Sunday that year on the lake where we enjoyed the water and sunshine and boating and fishing and the men skied. We wore our swim suits under our shots and shirts and packed picnic lunches and that was the beginning of several summers we spent on the lake. We would find a good spot on the lake shore in a bay and one night we camped out and during the night the rains came down in torrents but our spirits weren't dampened and we enjoyed the next day at the lake.
One Sunday, the men decided it was high time Jeanette and I learned to water ski. We weren't enthusiastic about it but donned life jackets and got fitted with the skis. We were young and daring and thinking we were fearless, I couldn't manage to come up out of he water, as sports had never been my forte, and I was sputtering and thinking I was drowning when Ralph rescued me. Next, it was Jeanette's turn, and amazingly she came up out of the water and was doing a pretty good job of gliding across the lake. She said later, she was terrified but was to scared to try to stop and she started screaming at the top of her voice for Charles to stop the boat. Her voice, sounding off with explicit language, rang across the lake. Finally, Charles stopped the boat and Jeanette was furious when she returned to the shore.
My sister, Joan, and her family also joined us some Sundays at the lake and we all had a great time. Ah, those were the good old days when we were young and carefree and it frightens me now when I remember some of the risks we took. For instance, one vacation day, Ralph and I took the small boat out in the Tennessee River and were oblivious to the dangers.
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