Aquatics

I grew up on a small island, so of course there were boats around, and a big old wood four stall boat house on the island, on the channel across from the paring lot. And while a neighbor had swift boats with the latest and biggest outboard motor built at the time, the twenty-five horse power Johnson, my grandfather whose summer house it was I lived, had an onerous heavy burdensome, wooden Coast Guard oar rowed life boat.

Saturday morning and it was raining to beat the band - and pouring, so a dozen refugee fishermen were sheltering in those days, some from Chicago fifty miles south - the unlocked an open boat house doors on the common land - so when the storm passed as did the fishermen, so did a first on the market 25 horse power Johnson boat motor. The missing motor was discovered almost immediately and the police were called urgently, on the telephone party line, and the busy-body secret-listeners had a field day that morning because the party line anyone could listen to anyone on the phone.

The villainous fishermen thieves were spotted by binoculars - heading for a boat rental place across the lake, and it was a race. Our town, Song Lake - was un-incorporated with no - police who had to race over from the town next door by squad car - and nabbed the miscreant fishermen with the hot motor on the dock as they landed, and the Johnson was retrieved. So the waters were parted and the black and white was revealed, and what were they thinking, saying they found it ? And that was the last of the open doors for locks went up immediately thereafter.

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