We decided to take the boat out for a run yesterday. It won't be long before she'll have to be pulled out of the water and stored for the winter. As we walked toward our slip I could hear the voice of a young child. Clear, well-articulated words, "Dad, I think I need another worm." Hmm, most kids are back in school...
As we neared I could see the child's thick, waist-length, cascading soft curls of blond hair. The kid looked to be about four years old and sat upon a child-sized folding chair directly in front of our boat. "Better move your chair," said the child's grandfather. "No, it's alright. There's plenty of room. We can get by just fine," said my husband.
We had a bit of work to do before we took the boat out, cleaning the boat in general, lubing the snaps and zippers, so we set to task as the grandfather, father and child continued fishing from the dock.
"Catch anything yet?" my husband asks.
"Yeah, quite a bit actually, some bluegill, crappies and bass."
"Good for you. I don't think I've caught a single fish this summer. Basically my fishing license is my annual donation to the DNR."
"Who knows, today could be your lucky day."
As we worked I listened to the child. A child’s voice is like music to me.
"Dad?"
"Yeah?"
"Can I have some water? I'm thirsty."
"Okay, but you better watch your line. Looks like you have a nibble."
"Oh darn, the fish ate my worm again."
"Dad?"
"Yeah?"
"I need another worm."
"Okay, give me a second."
"Dad?"
"Yeah?"
"How many have you caught?"
"How many fish? Well, I have six in the bucket and I had to release at least six because they were too small to keep. So let’s see, six plus six equals--"
"I guess I won then."
"You won?"
"Yes, Dad, I won."
"You won what? What did you win?"
"I won the fishing, um, the fishing…"
"You won the fishing contest?"
"Yes, Dad. I guess I won the fishing contest today."
"Well, I'm not sure about that, Buddy"
"Cute kid," I whisper to my husband as we work through our tasks. My husband mutters quietly near my ear, "Why the heck don't they have a life preserver on that kid, running around the pier?" That's my husband, "Mr. Safety."
The child is wearing spotlessly clean, but dark and drab colored clothing. A charcoal gray teeshirt over black knit shorts, dark gray socks with a blue batman emblem, the tops of which peek out of ankle-high black Converse-style sneakers. The kid does have a bright yellow and red kid-sized tackle box, which exactly matches, in color, the pint-sized folding chair.
"Hey, Buddy, we might be fished out here. What do you say we take our boat out to find some more fish?"
"Oh no, Dad, please no."
"Why not?"
"Because I'm tired, Dad."
"Good, then you can sleep on the boat."
"Daad, puh-leeze. I just don't want to. I'm sooo tired, Dad."
"Just for a little while, Buddy? Come on."
"Nooo, oh Dad, please can we just not go on the boat?"
"Alright, Buddy. Quit whining, we'll go home."
"Yay! You are the best dad, Dad!"
They pack up quickly as we begin to cast off. "Good-bye! Hey Buddy, say good-bye to the nice people. Good luck with the fish!" calls out Buddy's dad.
When we are out in the bay and the family is driving off in their car, my husband says, "So, do you think Buddy was a girl or a boy?"
I pause, because until this moment I thought that Buddy was just about the cutest little tomboy I'd ever seen. It never occurred to me that she was anything but a girl. But now as I sit here thinking about a newer generation of forward-thinking parents where defining gender in kids isn't quite as stringent; like those parents I read about from Toronto who refused to disclose the gender of their new baby until the kid was school age, to allow the child the freedom to determine which characteristics to adopt without prejudice to gender, or something like that.
"I don't know-- that hair. You rarely see a girl with hair that long, let alone a little boy. It was at least to Buddy's waist."
"But, the clothing the kid was wearing was all boyish."
"Yeah but, when Buddy started whining about the boat, didn't Buddy whine like a girl?"
"Yeah, maybe so. I'm leaning towards Buddy being a girl. Sure was a cute kid, almost too pretty a face to be a boy."
What the heck kind of hard-wiring has been done to my brain to make it so difficult to see beyond a kid’s hairstyle, or clothing choices, or softly symmetrical facial features, or a personal style of interacting with a parent, that I feel a need to identify it in some way as either male or female? I vow to work on rewiring my thought processes about genders.
***
"Hey, let's anchor here in the East bay near the new manmade reef. Maybe you'll catch enough fish to beat Buddy in the contest."
"Ha-ha."
We drop anchor and I read a book, while my husband tries to catch a fish. First he catches a bluegill. “I think I’ll try a bigger hook and some of that bait that Red recommended." My husband fiddles around tying on a new hook and attaching the bait. Not even a minute after dropping his line he catches a 14 inch bass, "Take a picture," he says.
I pull my IPhone out of my pocket. I keep it in an Otterbox Defender case, but the rubbery silicone outer part recently developed a tear that caused it to flap about, so I removed it, leaving it incased in only the hard, slick polycarbonate inner shell. You know, that rubbery outer shell has some grip to it. It keeps it from sliding off of countertops and auto dashboards and such. I plan to buy a new case for it, just as soon as I can find one for a good price. The old cases should be coming down in price with the new IPhone 6's coming out soon. My hand is slick from the snap/zipper lubricant I used on the boat covers and I drop my phone. I watch helplessly as it bounces and cascades effortlessly across two different surfaces of my newly cleaned boat and plops into the lake, sinking out of sight and to the bottom.
"What was that?" asks my husband, still admiring up his catch, "Another big fish jumping near the side of the boat?"
"No, something else. Hey, hon, how deep is the water here?”
“Only about 16 feet or so with the reef. Why?”
“Um, when did you say the new IPhone 6's were going to be available?"
***
For the next month or more I will rewire my brain to live without a phone as I am determined to wait out the 6. There is nothing I dislike more than buying an electronic product only to have it outdated in the next month.
Right now I can still receive and send text messages on my IPad. And I can still check my phone for voicemail, that is if I could only remember what my "passcode" is for voicemail. I only retrieve voicemail directly from my phone where a passcode is not necessary.
***
Newer! Bigger! Faster! Coming Soon!!
Yes, but is it waterproof and can it float?
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