Most Days

During our Keys visit there were many instances of things gone awry.

There were shark encounters, near death by lobsters, and a losing duel between Dave’s shin and a glass coffee table. There were various small wounds, a few bouts of seasickness, and Ellen’s everyday disposition.

Our days were lazy. We did lots of reading and napping in-between short ventures on the kayak or a snorkeling break. Dad became so caught up in a book called Unbroken that he sat quietly for two days pouring over those pages. “Come on Dad! We’re leaving” we would say.
“Let me just finish this chapter.” he’d reply.  He finally finished the book and I was pleased that we now had his full attention. Then he prattled on about how good it was and I foolishly picked it up to look at it’s pictures. Two days later I finished the book and Mom started Chapter One.

By evening, our families would join together for our one hot meal a day and sit on the back porch listening to tunes and bobbing our heads. When meal time was over, wild dancing and blasting laughter followed. Low Country Boil night was our biggest dance party and whether it was the margaritas or just the taste of freedom, our party got wild. During breaks from dancing, folks would split off in groups. Us kids would gather in the kitchen, Mom and Gigs would discuss the musical playlist and Dad and Dave would talk “man things.” Then music would resume and all would gather to shimmy and shake, though mostly Mom and Gigs put on the show.

I suppose the unanimous favorite moment of Low Country Boil Night was when sweet Uncle Dave missed the last step of the dock and tumbled headfirst into the dark water, curling himself into a fetal position on the way down. 
“I jumped!” he shouted as soon as his head reached the surface again but seeing as his phone and wallet had to be scooped out of the water and he had blood running down his shin, he later admitted that he fell. There was an abrupt end to Low Country Boil Night as we all became concerned for Dave's bloody leg and just how we were going to replace his cell phone.