9 Let’s Go See Some Jellyfish

It was shortly after my cousin David had arrived and that time of year when the jellyfish are in spawn, that David, Dawna and I decided to row out in a small rowboat and watch them.  The rules on safety such as they were, begged the three of us to tempt fate and row out to look at them close-up. What more could a six-year old want, then to lead out in such a cool adventure then this.  So off we went in the small rowboat that was near-by, and with no life jackets to-boot.  Back in those days there were no regulations about wearing lifejackets and nobody seemed to worry about drowning.  Everything was going fine and we were all leaning over having a great time looking at the millions of jellyfish of all colors, shapes and sizes when suddenly David fell out of the boat headfirst into the water.  I am amazed at our presence of mind, as Dawna calmly pulled David back into the boat while I leaned over the other side to counter-balance the rowboat so it would not tip over and throw us all into the water.  David however landed sputtering and coughing back in the bottom of the boat.  When we got back to shore mom asked how come David was all wet and I said, “Oh! David fell in the water and we pulled him out.”  And to this day I don’t remember my mother even raising an eyebrow.