The Stonethrower.
The grandfather couldn’t throw because his spine was frozen making it impossible to twist his upper body. The father could throw but wasn’t good at it. The brother could throw, too, and was skilled at stone skipping which was an inspiration to the younger boy. Men and stones. Boys and stones and a body of water. Impossible to resist. The skip, skip, skippity of stone across the surface of lake, river, pond, creek, or bay. We all do it. Some are better than others but it’s doing it that matters.
At this age, the following day can bring arm pain, muscle fatigue, and the reminders those cakes with few candles are far in the distant past. The cakes will only grow more cluttered now, but the brain tells the boy he is still a boy and should skip stones anytime the chance reveals itself.
Salt to fresh, calm to rippled. The curve and edges of the stone, the weight, and the precious angle make or break the enterprise. A downward curve and the thrower is rewarded with the plume of the single skip. Plunk. A pillar of water spiking from the center. But an upward curve combined with force and spin, and it is as if the stone is allergic to the water, like magnetics revolted by the idea another exists. Tiny circles are the only evidence contact was made. Three, four, five, six, seven at times. Fading into the blackness while the thrower searches for another more perfect piece to compliment his practice.
Comments 6
These are great, Dan.
Author
Thanks Scott.
Hola Amigo,
Been a long time. I finally have my life back after wrapping up the great flood repair renovation at our cabin and have been enjoying catching up on your site. This one takes me back to summers with my grandparents on the lake….grandparents and brother and I searching for the perfect ‘skippers’…..honing the throw each time the skip count got higher….takes me back. Thanks for playing tour guide! 😉
All the best,
JT.
Author
JT,
How is your life with the new round of flooding?
Well….as if Covid hasn’t made life challenging enough…all of the damage and hard hit areas are to the east of me so pretty much a non event in my neighbourhood. We are having lots of supply issues / shortages with all of the closed off roadways and fuel purchases are being limited…if there is fuel to even buy…lots of line ups at some times and lots of stations closed due to no fuel at other times. As long as one maintains an attitude of gratitude and selflessness life is pretty good around here….buuuut we are all ready for things to get better! On the plus side there wasn’t as much water as what caused the flood at the cabin (but pretty close to it) and everything was totally fine…all my hard work and fortification paid off!
Author
Jason,
Yep, most major systems are in flux. To be expected but not something that makes us feel good about ourselves.