When I was 14 years old, my dad decided I should learn to water ski.   It was probably prompted by the fact that Dad worked with a guy at John Deere who taught water skiing on the side.

It took my several weeks of trial and error before I finally got the hang of it.  Instead of holding on to the rope behind the boat, I would firmly grasp a giant bar hanging off the side of the boat.

No matter how many times the instructor would say, “Let the boat pull you up” or “Bend with your knees” or “Don’t fight the water” … I would totally ignore him and do my own thing.  I would then promptly face plant in to the lake time after time after time.  I thought I was destined for failure until he said, “No matter what happens, you keep your knees beside your chest until you can’t hold them there any more.”

It worked and I popped right out of the water.  You now what they say … thirtieth time is a charm!  To this day I hear my instructor telling me to keep my knees in to my chest – and every time I pop right out of the water.

Last week in North Carolina, I went water skiing for the first time in about eight years.  No one on the boat figured I’d be able to get up … let alone stay up.  I have to admit, I was genuinely surprised when my ski instructor’s advice worked 20+ years after the fact.  It was all going swimmingly (get it?) until I decided to brave the wake and start slaloming.

I managed to stay up for about four minutes until my back gave out … figuratively and literally.

My friends Kathryn and Jennifer, meanwhile, were determined to make the most of their stint on the inner tubes behind the boat.   Hindsight being what it is … I probably should have grabbed tight to the inner tube and let the boat do all the work.   Unfortunately, I didn’t take tubing lessons as an adolescent … so I wasn’t sure I’d be successful in my endeavors.   No bother.  Now excuse me while I go take another muscle relaxer so my back feels better.