Every two years, our family had two months home leave to come back to the states to visit friends and family. In 1966 we stayed in a rented cabin on the Homosassa River where family came to visit us for a change. Craig was 2 years old at the time and fascinated by what he could see in the water. It was the summer that Bob and I were married nearby in Crystal River. I remember standing on that dock with Bob - Craig was hanging over the dock looking underneath while Bob and I were looking out for manatees. I glanced down to check on Craig and he was in the water! Without thinking, I jumped into the water, fully dressed, to fish him out. After a couple sputters, he was ready to resume his watch... It's one of those stories that has made its way into family history and shows Craig's early fascination with water.
HaHa - Busted! And why am I not surprised? Acting "like foolish teenagers?" Nothing new here. 😉
Several years ago, Craig invited us to take a scenic tour of Harrisburg via his bike taxi. It was so much fun riding through the streets and having Craig share some stories he had learned about the burg. After we crossed the river, Craig said he had to stop in and speak with someone in the bike-taxi office and we were to wait in the taxi. While waiting we decided to act like foolish teenagers and make out. Little did we know, with the shift in weight, the taxi flipped onto it's back and we were stuck (looking skyward!). We tried everything to get that taxi upright, laughing hysterically. Craig came out and found us in our predicament and laughingly said "what were you two doing back there? Making out? Oh my gosh, we laughed so hard. Thanks for the wonderful memories Cuz! I miss you!!!
I can picture it - especially the laughter!
Another of Craig's Inadvertent Dunkings
Back in the 80's I went for a long walk with Craig around East Hampton including a stretch on the beach.
As we were walking the shoreline we came to a little lagoon, recently formed by a sand bar moving ashore. The lagoon had a cut, maybe only three feet wide, through which water was flowing back to the sea. I stayed on the shore side and Craig chose to walk the now-attached-to-shore, sandbar sides and easily jump this little cut. Apparently he had forgot some important beach dynamics lessons from his physical oceanography classes. He ran to gather speed to jump, and as he approached the cut his feet sank deeper and deeper into this unstable sand. Now his torso was way ahead of his feet, stuck in this quick-sand, and had no choice but to rotate full-blast, dead center, into the middle of this little stream. He was completely soaked and we were both laughing like crazy. It was 22 degrees out. After the laughter wore off we became a little concerned that he might freeze before we got home. Fortunately, at the beach parking area, a man with a pickup and topper gave us a lift home.