(no subject)
Dec. 7th, 2009 08:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
falcongrrlI'm trying out Daniel's formula for narrative writing that he uses in 4th grade. Let's see how this goes!
(Basic formula - intro paragraph, body, conclusion. In the body, answer these questions: what did you do, how did you feel, what were you thinking, what were those around you doing, and describe the scene.)
***
It seemed like my dad - my sixty-something-year-old dad, was just a little surprised when I asked if I could please have a turn. My sixteen-year-old twin brothers had just been tubing, wrestling and trying to knock each other off the day-glo tightly-inflated objects. Their antics reminded me of kneeboarding and waterskiing during my own teenage years.
Hoisting myself up onto the tube was a challenge, much more so than the last time I'd tried it...whenever that'd been. But I managed to do it successfully. My feet dangled into the water, and I tried not to think of alligators as my hands gripped the plastic handles tightly. I knew that thirty-seven was not too old to ride on a tube behind a motorboat, but my dad's expression from behind the wheel was still doubtful.
The sky was blue, and the day was sunny and hot - a typical central Florida day. The lake was the same one I'd lived on for my entire childhood, and each part of it looked familiar to me. Many of the boathouses and homes had hardly changed. I wondered what I must look like, a pale, chubby middle-aged woman tentatively poised on a giant doughnut. My son, my aunt, my dad, and my brothers were all in the boat watching to see what would happen.
My dad hit the gas and the boat lurched ahead. The water sprayed my face and I gripped the handles tightly. As the boat's speed increased, I felt the tube level out, skimming along the surface of the water. I experimented with moving the tube around inside the wake, grinned widely, and gave my dad a thumbs-up to signal that I wanted to go faster. Tubing was still just as fun as I'd remembered.
I hoped my son would realize that there were aspects to his mom he hadn't seen before, that he'd see the joy in rediscovering something once loved. Today, I still remember that day as a time when I challenged myself and rose to the occasion. I didn't let perceptions about what was appropriate keep me from the freedom of rushing across the top of the water. I was able to reclaim the girl inside of me who finds joy in speed and water and waves.
(Basic formula - intro paragraph, body, conclusion. In the body, answer these questions: what did you do, how did you feel, what were you thinking, what were those around you doing, and describe the scene.)
***
It seemed like my dad - my sixty-something-year-old dad, was just a little surprised when I asked if I could please have a turn. My sixteen-year-old twin brothers had just been tubing, wrestling and trying to knock each other off the day-glo tightly-inflated objects. Their antics reminded me of kneeboarding and waterskiing during my own teenage years.
Hoisting myself up onto the tube was a challenge, much more so than the last time I'd tried it...whenever that'd been. But I managed to do it successfully. My feet dangled into the water, and I tried not to think of alligators as my hands gripped the plastic handles tightly. I knew that thirty-seven was not too old to ride on a tube behind a motorboat, but my dad's expression from behind the wheel was still doubtful.
The sky was blue, and the day was sunny and hot - a typical central Florida day. The lake was the same one I'd lived on for my entire childhood, and each part of it looked familiar to me. Many of the boathouses and homes had hardly changed. I wondered what I must look like, a pale, chubby middle-aged woman tentatively poised on a giant doughnut. My son, my aunt, my dad, and my brothers were all in the boat watching to see what would happen.
My dad hit the gas and the boat lurched ahead. The water sprayed my face and I gripped the handles tightly. As the boat's speed increased, I felt the tube level out, skimming along the surface of the water. I experimented with moving the tube around inside the wake, grinned widely, and gave my dad a thumbs-up to signal that I wanted to go faster. Tubing was still just as fun as I'd remembered.
I hoped my son would realize that there were aspects to his mom he hadn't seen before, that he'd see the joy in rediscovering something once loved. Today, I still remember that day as a time when I challenged myself and rose to the occasion. I didn't let perceptions about what was appropriate keep me from the freedom of rushing across the top of the water. I was able to reclaim the girl inside of me who finds joy in speed and water and waves.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-08 04:08 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-08 05:16 pm (UTC)