Mr. Zookeeper's Ark

Mr. Zookeeper loves to fish. Perhaps it's the serene nature and calmness that draws him to the water; you might imagine it being a little difficult to find a quiet spot in this house unless it is too quiet and that only means the calm before the storm. Maybe it's the thrill of throwing out the line and trying to outsmart the Big One that always seem to get away... and maybe I should just ask him exactly what it is that calls to him; but nevertheless- he loves it.

To enhance the leisure activity, Mr. Zookeeper has always talked of getting a boat that will allow him greater access. Being heard, a few years ago he was given two boats within a year by two separate grandfathers. An amazing gift, Mr. Zookeeper was all so anxious to get out on the water. The boats were not as anxious; for both of them failed in their duties. Naturally they would always start up in trial and the engines would purr. He'd get halfway out on the lake, get stuck and realize a little more work was still needed. Luckily the first few times there were oars in the boat; now he never leaves home without them.

Mr. Zookeeper has the talent to work on the boats but as most hobby sufferers, he lacks the time. Never being able to purchase one on his own, he milked these two boats for many years (including crossing state borders during a move) and for many years we'd move these boats in and out of the side yard every time we required access to the back yard (yet one more reason our neighbors have for questioning us). Finally exhausted of shifting with no results- Mr. Zookeeper made a bold move. One boat he gave away three times before actually finding a permanent owner. The smaller one would be taken in for an estimate to find out how much it would take to get the little guy nursed back to health. Long story short (as if that's really possible for me), A co worker saw the boat in the route to the shop and had a proposition. After considering the options, Mr. Zookeeper agreed. After a quick trip to the shop- for the NEW boat, RED joined it's new brother in the side of the yard.

Determined to get in his boat fishing trip (and me eager to let him), the Saturday before Easter we loaded up the family and headed for the lake. All was well. I even backed the trailer into the dock without drowning the truck- though I was positive I couldn't do it and had visions of the family sitting on top of the floating Chevy waiting to be rescued by the news helicopter. Indeed, we boated out, set the anchor and enjoyed some fishing. After five minutes, the kids were done so we moved to a new location. A little further out we tried our rods again. By the time Mr. Zookeeper got his pole out, the first child already had his pole in the water for several minutes so, naturally, he was done and ready to move on.

The air was crisp but clean and as the boat rocked on the waves I couldn't help but feel thankful for the opportunity to spend this time as a family. The cell phone was only used for it's amazing GPS abilities and the kids managed to make minimal contact with the water, although each one was strapped into a life jacket just in case. Rhino enjoyed watching his stick reflect in the water. Tiger liked watching the gummy fish sink as he dumped all the snacks overboard in one big toss. Puppy learned how to cast and proved if any one were to become Dad's fishing buddy it would be her. Monkey was also learning to cast but she never quit grasped the idea of release meaning the line rather than the entire pole. Yes, I am blessed and the day was perfect.

Mr. Zookeeper was just so excited to be out there that he didn't even mind spending most of his time fishing for poles, untying string and chasing freed worms. Rhino would be asking for the time soon, which meant he'd have a breakdown when he learned it was past lunch time so we pulled in all lines and decided to boat for a little bit before heading for shore. "Faster, Dad, Faster!" All the kids cheered as we skid over the waves. The smiled were painted in spite of frozen cheeks in the wind and everyone was having a good time.

Nice story, right? Of course it is- but it can't end here because, well- this is OUR story. Apparently my vision of us floating along waiting to be rescued was accurate, just a little misconstrued in the details.

All animals were on board, water surrounded us at every side and RED, Mr. Zookeeper's newest ark decided it had had enough. We drifted atop the waves for about 25 minutes while Mr. Zookeeper tried every form of manipulation and bribery to get that engine to talk to him. After realizing it was a very one sided conversation; Mr. Zookeeper agreed we'd better start back anyway.

Fortunately, we had felt inspired to take the family on the canoe rides at Disneyland so we have all been trained in the proper way to hold an oar. Palm on top and tight grip at the middle we began to call out. "Stroke, Stroke..."

The kids all wanted to row but for the sake of getting somewhere, each was eventually fired and all were sent to the back instructed to just sit down. Dressed in my son's over-sized straw hat, worn out jeans and a t-shirt barely visible by the life-jacket tied so tight imperfect posture was impossible, I decided I didn't just want to be an attractive wife but a useful one as well. (insert sarcastic grin) I stroked with all my might and Mr. Zookeeper kindly stroked and steered us straight; my paddle did half the work as his which caused us to make circling detours...I concluded there must have been something wrong with my paddle.

Just behind us, there was another drifting boat; this one however was much bigger, newer and clearly not drifting for the same reasons. At first we assumed he must be coming to rescue us. I kept looking over my shoulder yet the boat maintained the same distance. Confused that someone, who could clearly see us and what we were doing, would watch a stranded family row themselves to shore I decided that he must be in trouble himself and was drifting toward us to borrow our oars when we were done with them. Surely there could be no other explanation. Nonetheless- we rowed, and rowed and rowed. After rowing ourselves half the distance to shore (which was a good 30 minutes)we just started to laugh. Perhaps it was because our luck had proved true, perhaps it was because we were being followed yet not helped.. or maybe it was the combination of the two which were quickly joined by little flecks of ice kisses; yes, amidst it all, it began to snow.

By this time the girls were getting chilly, Tiger was mischievously quiet and Rhino had realized he was missing lunch and snacks would not do so we were relieved to hear that the boat shadowing us for the last 45 minutes did actually have a motor and was offering to tow us in the rest of the way.

We reached dock- I held the boat while Mr. Zookeeper ran to get the truck and trailer and even though I had a few urges to accidentally release the rope that held the boat in place; I held onto it tightly. The snow was now flowing freely and dock space was limited. Another kind fisherman and his wife grabbed our boat with theirs and positioned it out in the water so Mr. Zookeeper could pull it on the trailer without having to get in the water (do you see how kind we are, we are just distributing blessing to un-expecting people everywhere!)

In spite of our efforts, the boat was given a final heave up on to the trailer, the boat stayed in place but Mr. Zookeeper was not so lucky. Standing in freezing water up to his thighs, Mr. Zookeeper jumped faster than I had seen in a long time, all while letting out a big spurt of laughter (that's how good I married). Soaking wet and now with no fear of falling; the job got done and we all sought refuge in the warm seats of the heated truck; okay- we all watched Mr. Zookeeper struggle with the elements from the comfort of our shelter but I did have my window down which created quite the draft so I was just as happy as he was for him to be done. After three hours more than expected, a good laugh and many shakes of the head- we set for home. Mr. Zookeeper of course was the most anxious to get home as he did not have a change of clothes and in spite of my worry and insistence that he would catch cold and die, he refused to drive home in his underwear. (And he'd like for me to add that he did not die and managed to keep a little of his dignity while driving home in frozen underpants.)

Not exactly as we planned... this is what family is about; weathering life's storms together (and I have since forgiven Mr. Zookeeper for his faulty boat and he has since forgiven me for watching him load the faulty boat in freezing temperatures while sitting comfortable in the truck- someone had to watch the kids...). There was no flood of tears, though we were surrounded with water never knowing when we might see land again and at times it did feel like 40 days had passed. The animals aboard were all safe and a memory set for the record books had been made. Indeed, it was a day we will not quickly forget and while it did end with all well- I think perhaps it might still be one of those we don't want to repeat... at least not until we put a little more work in re-building the ark....