Unconditional giving
The best gift we can give, the best treat we can receive
Life is all about change. Small swings…seismic shifts…some changes are expected, some are blindsides. We get a mix of pleasant and unpleasant surprises. Some changes we could have gone without…other things are life changing…others still change you forever…for better or for worse.
This past weekend we kicked off Summer, unofficially…the weather was more “late Fall,” and that gave things an entirely different feel. The forecast was abysmal…so Friday’s annual golf outing was an early scratch and we pushed our arrival back a day, but still the minute we arrived it was as fun as usual…though things didn’t unfold as they typically do as the days went on.
Long story short, Friday and Saturday involved lots of game play (my favorite being Rummikub) and some Michelob Ultras, then Sunday was an ok day weatherwise, so we were in and out, chilling, laughing, listening to music...etc. etc. Not a great day, not terrible.
A nice day to have fun, but just not nice enough for a boat ride.
And thank God.
At 7:24PM, there was a break in the clouds, and it looked like we could sneak one in before sunset:
But by 7:57…
…cue the theme to Gilligan’s Island:
Needless to say, Monday was not at all what we expected or planned. Usually we get up, have coffee, debrief on the weekend, get on the road before noon, and get to work on the garden beds.
But there was work to be done.
We needed to help our friends.
We needed to save the boat.
But HOW?
So we were all out there (seven of us), walking the razor-thin line between many hands making light work and having too many cooks in the kitchen, a common occurrence when the urge to act collides with the need to pause and plan.
As the “trial and error” stage unfolded with little immediate success, it did inform some answers to “what now?” There was no obvious or easy solution, not even with the right equipment. But we were making progress…albeit at a very slow pace.
Then a neighbor from a few houses down to the left going by on his boat floated in…sized up the situation…asked if we wanted help (YES!) and then docked his boat back at home and came back quickly. Hearing and seeing the commotion, the neighbor on the right joined in too. Neither of them took over, they simply became part of the problem-solving crew (albeit with more equipment and more boat knowledge than any of us).
A call was made to another friend who owns a marina for some insights. We tried a new approach. A guest of one of the guys came by and quickly sized up the scene. Then, a little more progress. But still we needed to stop the water from going straight from the lake over the stern…and eventually—thanks to a big storage bin and a sh-t ton of towels—the water was pumping out faster than it was coming in. As the boat lightened up a bit, thanks to a pull of the rope here, some weight on the boat there…three 20 foot tow straps…a snapped line…and a Come-Along manual winch with a section of pipe over the handle to provide extra leverage, the boat was risen.
And you know what? In a lot of ways, it was great. The sun was shining (finally) and temps were warmer—we were “forced” to stay outside by the lake, with no pressure to get home. We got a massive dose of the spirit of friendship and of neighbors helping neighbors. And after 5 hours of hard work, the right tools, and some Yankee ingenuity, the job was done, and the boat was ready for a tow to the boat hospital.
My favorite parts of the day consist of these two discrete exchanges:
The friend of the neighbor, when thanked mid-mission, didn’t hesitate before answering, calmly, warmly, and utterly sincerely, “Oh it’s really all about helping people.” And you knew he meant it.
A few minutes later, when it seemed all efforts might be futile, the neighbor on the other side said reassuringly to one of the boat owners, “I will help you for as long as it takes.” It instilled confidence and a sense of in-it-togetherness.
It was the only nice day all weekend, and it would have been an easy excuse to depend time with friends at their respective homes. No matter to these good souls—they spent hours that could have been spent having fun patiently and selflessly helping (it was hard work!)…without frustration, complaint, or acting the slightest bit inconvenienced. It was heartwarming. And just the boost I didn’t know I needed.
The moral of the story as I see it?
Do what you can when you can because you can.
It’s that simple.
Thank you for being here with me—I know you could be somewhere else, doing something else…so your time here means the world to me.
Love you too.
This habit is coming along nicely…(well, depending on how you define “nicely” 🤣🤣🤣