The Fourth of July Curse
I’ve injured myself the last two Fourth of July holidays* – my wrist in 2009 and my leg in 2010. I approached this Fourth of July holiday weekend with caution – I was going to be careful and the curse would stop. Well, it did! But only because it was passed on to my dad. He managed to hit himself in the head with a pole driver while he was fixing my grandma’s dock. Here he is holding the pole driver (yes, I made him pose**):
The pole driver cut the top of his head and it resulted in a lot of blood all over his face. Being my dad (or, being male?) he kept working on the dock and ignored the bleeding until he has so much blood on his face that he couldn’t see.
Anyway (he’s fine), that happened on the 2nd, and since the curse was lifted, it left me two whole days to be reckless. And this time my new form of danger was water skis:
Apparently, at some point on Saturday I mentioned that I would like to try water skiing. Come Monday morning my mother brought it up and really wanted me to try it. My sister’s boyfriend, Will, was encouraging, but nearly everyone else thought it was a death wish, so of course, I had to go for it. My mom kept saying “We did it all the time as kids! We never got hurt – the worst was just a little enema now and then.” Yeah. She wasn’t lying about THAT.
But I did try it and managed to leave uninjured! Of course, I had NO idea what I was doing. Will gave me some pointers, but I wasn’t getting it. I kept trying over and over and couldn’t get up (note: these skis are from the 70s or 80s – not sure if that makes a difference). My aunt went by in her boat (she used to be in a ski club) and gave me some tips, and I finally got up after about 10 tries.
Once I got up I was like “What the eff do I do now?!” and would hold on for a bit then let go of the rope (before I killed myself – it felt like we were going really fast). Next time, I will conquer it. I think I will make Erin try it when she comes to Guttenberg this summer too. Muah ha ha.
My “skiing” (really, attempted skiing) inspired my mother to try (she used to ski) but she mostly ended up doing water ski aerobics:
Our entire weekend was really great. We spent Saturday on the beach in the full hot sun
and went to a parade in Guttenberg in the evening. On Sunday we went to a flea market in Marquette, IA (meh) and went back to the beach (it was overcast, but still hot), then played horseshoes and bags in the evening while my mom cooked us an awesome dinner.
Monday was another parade in Garnavillo, skiing and a bit of boating. It was another beautiful day with full sun and I did NOT want to leave! We didn’t get home until nearly 11:00 pm. Oops.
I can’t wait to go back!
How was your Fourth of July weekend?
*We spend the fourth in Guttenberg, IA, on the Mississippi River, where my family has some homes/cabins.
**Hey dad, I got the other pics from mom of your bandage… should I have posted those? HA HA HA.
Themocracy
I worked. All weekend. BOO.
I’m glad to hear that the fourth of July curse was lifted from you. But sorry about your dad! Your weekend really looked like a blast. I have only tried wakeboarding never water skiing. My weekend was busy with 3 different bbq’s! Fun times! 🙂
How does wakeboarding work? I was wondering if it was easier or harder than water skiing.
Oh your poor dad! 🙁 Way to survive (and pass on) the curse!
This looks like a truly wonderful weekend! Way to tear it up on the water!
I’m glad your curse was broken. My brother broke his tibia AND fibia this weekend wakeboarding. He was up at my parents lakehouse haming it up for his girlfriends parents…I’m sure they were impressed when they had to rush him to the emergency room!
NO! Is your brother a runner too?! 🙁
haha, i like your dad’s not-so-subtle finger in that picture as well 😉 glad YOU are ok, at the very least! it would be worse if you just ENLARGED the curse to encompass more & more members of your family.. at least this way it’s just one of you? 🙂
Oh man. I’m glad your dad is ok. Head injuries are scary!
I love water skiing! Glad you figured it out. When I learned it took me a good number of tries to get up too. Then I watched my mom do it and got up on my 2nd try. I guess I learn from watching.
Once you get the hang of balancing you should ride in and out of the wake! It’s great fun.
You need to give me some tips before I go back! 🙂
Well i am glad you didn’t get hurt and the curse is broken! I love to waterski! I used to not be able to do it and then one summer I tried again and I could!
“Hey dad, I got the other pics from mom of your bandage… should I have posted those? HA HA HA.”
Ahhh NO! Embarrassing enough the dumbass way I was “injured” no need to add that “bandage” to it.
I hear it was very creative! 🙂
Wow! Sounds like you had an awesome weekend – in spite of your dad’s injury. My mom used to ski a lot when she was younger (her parents had a house on a lake in Ohio) and always thought it seemed really hard. Must pull a lot on your arms – were you sore afterwards?
Ha. I didn’t think I was sore yesterday, but last night I had a hard time opening the door to my car! So yeah, my forearms are S-O-R-E!!!
That looks like an awesome weekend!
I totally want to try water skiing now! Maybe we’ll discover I’m a natural at it. Hahahahahah
And poor Todd! I hope the cut heals fast.
I wouldn’t be surprised if you were a natural! 🙂
looks like so much fun, and i’m glad you weren’t hurt!
so fun!
I like the one finger salute your dad is giving the camera. Is that for the curse? 😉
Ha! I think it is for ME!
I would love to see the pictures of the bandage!! 🙂
Hmm, I think I will have to get permission to show it to you first 😛
You can just send it to me! I need a good laugh 🙂
Go ahead Kim, but see if she can guess what it is (unless grandma has already told her).
I love it!! And yes Grandma told me, but the writing does give it away!
Being on the lake looks like so much fun! Your poor dad. That’s pretty hardcore that he kept working. Too funny that he is flipping you off!
Looks like you had a spectacular July 4th weekend and holiday. I’ve only been water skiing once in my life and it was both scary and exciting.
Fourth of July seems so long ago…clearly I’m behind in the blogosphere! LOL. Mine was nice, I worked most of the weekend but got to enjoy fireworks, so that was good! I’m glad your dad okay, that cut looks pretty nasty! 🙁