Bring On The Ben-Gay

Dad Gone Mad made me laugh out loud at my desk . . . only because I can see all of this happening, and feel his pain.

And it reminded me of the days of my youth . . . when we’d water ski all day long every single day. And once every summer, the “old people” (otherwise known as my actually very young parents, aunts, and uncles) would waterski - for like 2 minutes. We’d hook ‘em all up to the backs of the boats and take off with them plowing behind getting a face full of water before finally making it out where they’d skim across the water with two sticks strapped to their feet. We’d go once around the bay and bring ‘em back in for the ever-so-graceful-I-can-run-my-skis-into-shore-jump-out-of-my-skis-and-keep-on-walkin’-toward-the-camper-without-a-second-thought landing (no, it never actually happened that way - the dock would get in the way, or they’d forget that they were heavier than they were the previous year and they couldn’t actually skim to shore but would come up about 4 feet short when the skis sunk into the mud - not pretty.) Then the drinking would start . . . it was known as daiquiri day . . . the one day the beer cans were replaced with a blender, some juice, and a lot of rum. The next day was known as “stinky moaning groaning day” - the day none of them could walk because they were so friggin’ sore and they bathed in Ben-Gay. I remembering wondering out loud one of those days “I don’t understand what the problem is . . . why are you so sore after just that tiny bit of skiing. Sheesh! Big Babies!”

Then I got older. At the old age of 25, after taking about an 8 year break from water skiing, I strapped myself in and went for a ride. Oh. My. GAWD! You forget about all those little muscles that you never use! All I can say is that I was truly sorry for every joke I ever made at my parents’ expense about them being so out of shape and sore Especially now that I’m a mere 10 years older than THAT . . . even the THOUGHT of water skiing makes me hurt! That, however, does not make me stop doing stupid things that will surely inure me, like racing my daughter around the park or swinging a bat a gazillion times at a batting cage or learning to snowboard.

So, what’s your “getting older” moment?