Fourth of July Weekend Tubing

Fourth of July weekend, so the whole crew went out on the lake with the tube — the big red, white and blue "Patriot Cruiser" two-seater, stars all over the front, which is about right for the occasion.

First runs went to the redhead and the boy, both in life jackets, sitting back against the inflatable seats like it was furniture. From the boat you could watch them bounce through the wake, feet up, hanging onto the handles. They stayed on, which at the speed we ended up pulling them counts for something.

Grandma came along and rode in the back of the boat the whole time, sunglasses on, holding a water bottle and looking entirely unbothered by the spray coming off the stern. Everybody else took turns at the rail watching the tube.

Later the two-seater somehow held three — the redhead, the boy, and a grown man wedged on behind them — and that run threw a lot more water. The wake was bigger by then too, or the driving was less merciful, hard to say which.

The yellow tow strap ended up trailing under the tube between runs and had to be fished back out every time.