Mutiny on the Bounty

CIDER

My father is out in California this week. It’s funny how things can link in your mind. We bought the family boat in Cali, and I’ve been thinking about my dad’s prized sailboat that sits in Pueblo Reservoir here in Colorado . . . and my dad.

Like most father-daughter relationships, there are times we get along, and times we do not. My dad has a personality that compels him to have everyone share in whatever great activity/hobby he’s into at that point in time. (I also, have this trait)

For instance, he bought a sailboat, so he can sail. But everyone else had to sail too; and while my parents were raised in Hawaii where sailing is the ‘in’ thing; their Colorado offspring do not share this passion. But, there were no excuses. Out to the boat we all went, so we could go around in circles on a rather tiny reservoir. I was there, Greg (before we were married), my two brothers, sister, mom, two dogs and vast quantities of food.

We had just ‘cast off’ (which doesn’t mean much when there is not wind) and had begun to drift slowly towards the center of the lake. Occasionally a wind would gust off from one of the nearby ridges, and instead of making us go faster, it would hit the sail with great (albeit brief) force, and then the boom would knock one of us nearly unconscious as it snapped around the deck. This began to annoy my dad. Although he would yell “JIBE!!!” milliseconds before this happened; none of us really knew what “JIBE!!!” meant, and were knocked silly by the boom as punishment. So dad took action. He began to utter mysterious phrases with great passion, often directed at one of his four children. Things like “COME ABOUT!!!” or “FALL OFF!!!!” to the poor soul who had been drafted into working the tiller; or - to the person who was sitting gazing at the water – “GRAB THE LINE AND PULL THE SHEET IN!!!!”

It was mayhem. Those who didn’t respond as expected (all of us) were sternly rebuked for our lack of maritime knowledge; and soon the situation came to a head. I started snapping back, my brothers joined in, even our border collie seemed less enthusiastic then normal – and within a matter of mere minutes it was ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’. We were shouting, gesturing, the boat had decided to stop, my mother was attempting to lower blood pressures, and within all this pandemonium, my father decided to let us know just how furious we made him. He drew himself up and bellowed with great force; “THAT’S IT!!! I’M GOING TO FIND MYSELF ANOTHER CREW!!!!”

Well, that killed the viscous mood that we were all in. No matter how serious he was trying to be, ‘the crew’ couldn’t keep a straight face. The day turned out all-right in the end.