Monsoon on Bartlett

I awoke at 4am to drive to Casa Grande to pick up my new grand piano. Yes, folks, after weeks and weeks I finally found the perfect one. And since pianos can't be moved in the heat we left real early.
The drive up there was amazing: only 4 miles outside of Ahwatukee and it's like a new planet. Just miles and miles of nothing, mountains, hills and creosotes. It was humid and storm clouds were rolling in for a beautiful sunset.
And by 9am it was there, sitting in our house looking tired. Poor piano. Here's some background info:
1929 Mason and Hamlin
rebuilt/strings, dampers, cast-iron painted, soundboard redone in 1970's
single family owners since 1929.
Black satin finish
5'8'' parlor grand.
and sounds so great.

That afternoon my friend Dan came over to go boating with us. I could not believe after a mere week of cleaning and fixing the boat, that we would be able to take it out to Bartlett.
It sat in the backyard for nine years and last Friday dad got the (terribly impossible) idea of bringing it out again! PUHLEAZE like that would ever happen!
And there I was, riding in the back of the Expedition up to Barlett. So excited, so glad, and so ready for some tubing!
We saw a wall of periwinkle as we drove to the north but didn't think much of it.
Getting on the water brought back so many memories of camping on Lee's Ferry, tubing with Keilah Ortegus when I was 6 and holding on for DEAR life as the boat pulled us at high speed. ALso the time when my dad forgot to put the plug in the boat, and we sped off and soon realized the enormous puddle pooling at the stern. And that one time mom gave me too much cough syrup and I lay asleep for hours as my parents and grandparents had a fun time on the boat.

We set off and dad pushed the throttle and we rushed across the water. It was beautiful and I forgot how much fun it was.
Dad stopped and pulled the tube out and tied the rope on and started fiddling with it. Something was wrong with the float that held up the rope, and it sank and therefore was geting in the way with the propellers. To make matters worse the waves pushed the rope under the propellers and it became tangled In addition, our dog was being VERY ANNOYING and whining and barking and jumping from seat to seat. My mom was screaming at Jacky to be quiet and 'lay down!' and dad was upset about the possibility of not tubing. I suddenly realized how the periwinkle clouds had turned to dark purple. The wind was whipping around us and I noticed how fast the horizon was moving. "Dad, the rocks." He looked up and worked even faster. Seconds later I looked towards land again and my eyes widened. We had moved SO fast within mere seconds and approached the rocky shore. "DAD!!!" I screamed above the din of wind, dog-barking, mom-yelling... "THE ROCKS, THE ROCKS!" Dad picked up his head from the mess of rope he was working with. We were suddenly in a terrible predicament. Faced with the rope off the end of the boat, interfering with the motor, we coulnd't punch it and get out of the waves. Decisions had to be made. Dad raised the motor out of the water and told us to jump out and push the boat away from land while he untangled the rope. It was a good thing the boat drafts in 8 inches of water, or we'd be wrecked for sure. Mom, Dan and I jumped out and clambored to shore and braced against the boat right as the hull gently collided with the bulky river rocks. Our feet were throbbing at this point; none of us had shoes. So there we stood on those rocks, acting like human bumpers, keeping the boat stable. The wind really kicked up now, dad told us to push off and get the motor away from the rocks so he could lower it, we heaved and the boat shot out just enough. He lowered the motor and we climbed in right as he punched the motor. Four foot swells crashed against the hull and pushed at our boat (which was still sideways.) Dad tried to steer the 18 foot deck boat in the shallow cove. The sunshade above us was acting as an enormous sail, and did not work to our advantage, but in that hairy situation none of us thought to take it down. Right when we thought we were out of the worst, the wind tossed the blaze oragne flag into the water. We all stopped for a second watching, and thinking it would float, but it sank! Dad stopped the motor and mom went in after it. Again, we started drifting to the shore. Dan put the ladder down and mom tried to climb up, but she couldn't because the boat was moving too fast. Dad couldn't speed away because mom was by the motor. We were now heading even faster to the shore of a yet another rockier cove. Nobody was worried about mom as she tossed about--sans life vest--in the middle of the lake with 4 foot waves crashing over her head.
One would think Jacky would have become hoarse from all the barking, but NO. She barked and barked and barked. The boat careened closer to colliding starboard side with the rocky shore. Dad screamed at us to get out and keep the boat from crashing...AGAIN.
Not thinking, I jumped out starboard side and the water was deeper than I thought, and the boat almost went over me! Dad was livid and I could barely hear why, because the wind was so loud. Dan was already on the shore struggling to brace the boat. The waves became so bad they pushed me face-first and I banged my shin against a rock.
Meanwhile, mom was 10 yards away scrambling to shore with the wilted flag. I heard her cry out in pain and hold her foot. This was quickly turning into a disaster!
Dan and I held the boat as best as two people could, but we heard the spine tingling sound of scraping rocks against the hull. Mom joined us at this point and we pushed the boat as hard as we could. We isolated the motor and dad lowered it. He got out and pushed with us, the boat traveled away from the shore for a brief moment. We jumped in and lurched forward as dad laid on the throttle.
But it proved to be useless. The waves were so bad, and the boat--extremely bulky. We had no choice but to drift into a sandy cove.
The boat beached starboard side, and port side to the waves. We assesed the damage: towels--sopping wet, chips and Cheeto's all over the boat, ropes in a mess, water all over the seats. So we got out, took some chairs and food with us and just chilled on the beach. Jacky bolted as fast as she could to dry land and... well, took care of business. The poor dog was freaking out the whole time because she had to go. My parents felt bad for calling her...colorful names during the whole boat-crashing deal. Surprisingly it was sunny and very nice out. Except...the wind was unreal and there was a storm moving towards us.
We were full and relaxed and exchanged stories. Mom said, "While I was out there flailing in the lake, I noticed a lonely Cheeto just bobbing by my face. It's funny the things you notice when you're about to die."
After lunch, dad checked on the boat and noticed the waves crashing into the boat had contributed to a very large puddle pooling at the stern. He turned the bilge pump on and trekked out with the anchor in search of a rocky point to hook the anchor on.
He came back and broke the news, we were going to have to push the boat out again to get it deeper into the cove and hook it to the anchor.
We braced against the boat, all four of us and pushed. It. Did. Not. Budge. Our feet slipped in the sandy mud and the waves crashed on the hull and into our faces. We pushed with all our strength and might for 60 seconds. Dad had us time the waves so when they lifted the boat up a tad, that's when we'd go in hard and push like never before, then when it loosened from the sand, we would push from the back. It was so stuck in the sand, I thought we'd never make it. NO phone service, no nothing. I guessed if it got too bad, one of us would have to swim to the middle of the lake and try to flag down a passing boat.
We set our feet and heaved. For what felt like hours we did this, and finally it let go. We moved to the stern as part of the plan, and manuvered the boat into the water. Dad got in and steered. Finally we were in the middle of the cove and hooked up to the anchor. I slipped into the deep water and just floated there thanking God.

The rest of the lake trip was fun. We jetted across the water and explored some beautiful areas of Bartlett. I got to drive the boat--which was fun. The day wasn't completely ruined and we ended up having a great time!