YouTube Friday — Freestyle Jet Ski

4 Comments

1. 

   Ned

   June 17, 2007 at 6:41 pm

   First of all, and I do mean firrrrst of all, we thought of J.E. and Liz and raised a glass into a toast for you both.

   Secondly, unfortunately the old yellow hornet just didn’t have the zip in it, and we were unable to get the jet ski up and running. (Perhaps we needed you there to remove the battery from the thing and shake it, or whatever you did last year).

   The others did quite well with the tube however, including a spectacular triple flip spill by Tobias (which unfortunately I did not witness; so perhaps am a bit remiss to report).

   Finally, I would like to say that while I feel it is obvious that you fully appreciate the technical skill involved with “turtling” the jet ski, your comments seem to fall short in your appreciation for the sheer audacity it takes for a swimmer of my ability to fly in the face of Francis.

   We missed you guys. Hope all is well with the houses.
2. 

   Shotts

   June 18, 2007 at 10:56 am

   J.E. and Liz–we definitely missed you this past weekend on Lake Francis. Ned and Eliot’s sandcastle was a masterpiece!

   We did indeed raise a glass to you in your absence. Do let us all know how it’s going with closing the new house and selling the old one. And of course, how it’s going with your dad.

   The main thing you missed, in my opinion, was the story of how the Peters’ new Prius ran out of gas on the way up. (Jeff chalked it up to testing the car’s limits, which I guess he found.)

   That, and the aforementioned triple flip spill performed by Toby.

   And some delicious meals made by everybody.
3. 

   Pete

   June 18, 2007 at 9:36 pm

   Thanks, JE, for your post. I have to thanks the Jeff-Jen combo for an incredible hosting job. We had a great time. Thanks, too, to the Beckers’ for their ongoing hospitality and friendship. I left Minnesota with a memory filled with great experiences, a belly full of great food, an ear full of great conversation, and a heart full of appreciation for my friends. I also left with pectorals full of lactic acid, thanks to the tubing of a lifetime. Thanks to all. We had a terrific time. jeff and amanda
4. 

   Shotts

   June 19, 2007 at 10:01 am

   Great to hear this, Peters. And great to know your sore muscles will remind you of our weekend together–maybe for another day or two. Come back up and we’ll skip you over the lake, anytime.

   It was great to see you all. I really appreciate you making your respective drives and taking the time to meet up. It is always sad to see everyone go–especially for me now that my parents’ situation is such that I’m not sure when we’ll next be in McPherson. In any case, I hope this won’t be our only meeting this year–though it’s looking like we’ll be in Washington State for Thanksgiving and Minnesota for Christmas.

   Perhaps there could be an autumn gathering for bocce at some point…?

   One thing I wanted to mention: thanks to everyone who came for not making it a Harry Potter weekend. I appreciated that such talk was kept to a minimum. Maybe I’ll let me resistance down these next couple of weeks, while Jen is away in India and Thailand, and try out the first book.

   But for those of you still interested in literary alternatives: OUT STEALING HORSES by Per Petterson just won the IMPAC Dublin award, the biggest international fiction prize, over finalists Cormac McCarthy, Salman Rushdie, Jonathan Safran Foer, J.M. Coetzee, and Julian Barnes. And check out this weekend’s New York Times Book Review: OUT STEALING HORSES is the front page review. So don’t take my previous enthusiasm for the book as mere hype. And Ned told me he really enjoyed it as well.

   Here’s to a great summer, and to more good gatherings with you all. I always enjoy it and learn a lot and mourn it when it’s over.