A small boat story

I have a story for you all... A small boat story: One of disaster and fate...

 

My Brother-in-law and his wife have a ten acre parcel with a small pond and a large house in Middle Indiana. Not having a small boat when you own a pond is a small crime so I built one and gave it to them. My little one sheet skiff. Beautifuly painted with varnished mahogany trimmings and pollished brass highlights. This is a very small boat that I origionaly built for the children. As many parents of small children who own a pool or are near a small body of water, they were petrified of the combination and I don't believe the kids ever had the opportunity to enjoy it. However, when I first delivered this boat to them (four years ago), Bill (my brother-in-law) thought to himself, "It is very nice but I dont think I will ever use it." He actually used it quite often to fish and to clear the ponds overflow pipe that (extends out too far from shore) from limbs and debris.

 

So, to continue this story I have to tell you that they have an income that afforded them to put an addition on there house, install a very nice covered in ground swimming pool, and begin a very extensive landscape plan that has been on-going for well over a year and will continue through the summer of this year. By no means should it have taken this long but they have had un-necesary troubles with the landscape contractors and stone masons and there completion estimates. They work on there own schedule with complete disregard for completion. It really has been a mess as they have had to fire some of these companies for not returning to the job for months at a time. Meanwhile, there little slice of heaven on earth has been surounded by ill construction, debris and impliments for all of this time. Part of the landscape plan was an 8 foot tall retaining wall between where the pool sits and a large mass of earth in the form of a hill to the south. This wall was built of concrete block filled with re-bar and morter then covered/hidden by an additional wall of rough tan colored stones of various sizes. It really was a beautiful wall.

 

Leaning on it's side against this wall and protected partially from the wooden deck above was my little one sheet skiff. She was stored there for the winter with hopes of skimming across the shimmering still waters of the pond once the weather had returned to the new spring season. It was a blustery December storm the poor skiff had to endure on its own outside with only the security of this marvelous wall to help it through till the weather subsides. With the storm, came a plethora of rain. The skiff endured a full day of heavy down pour followed by an evening of freezing temeratures. The skiff had endured fridgid temeratures of four wintery seasons prior and was well accustomed to cold december evenings.

 

The great wall however was not. You see it was the retaining wall's very first winter. It did not enjoy being left out in the December cold not one bit. The weight and the pressure of the expanding freezing waters left by the stormy day was too much for the the marvelous wall to endour. It just could not take it not a minute longer. It just had to go. And when it did, it exploded and presented thousands of pounds of stone, concreate, and earth down upon the poor skiff. The poor flat bottomed skiff was flattened and smashed to bits. Even its sturdy oars were split into pieces. It was a disaterous end for such a pretty little boat. Pause with me for a moment while we remember the poor skiff...................................................... ...........................................................................................

Before I had learned of the fate of the poor pretty little skiff. The landscape company had sent out a crew of people to remove some of the stone and debris. They had no respect for the poor pretty little skiff and they burned her remains in a barrel along with other burnable refuge in order to keep warm for the short time they were there to work... Cremated without the prayer of a proper burial or the salvage of a hundred dollars worth of polished brass hardware.

 

For cry eye eye...

 

-Kruez-