Chy, you inspired me to post again!
Going back to Page was pretty sweet. Dad told us the story of when some Hollywood bigshots came to town and announced they needed lizards for a movie and would give rewards to kids who brought them lizards. Sounds like a dream for a little kid. He also told us how when he was a kid he was chucking rocks off the cliff in Giffords’ back yard, and he slipped, tumbled down the cliff, and woke up inside a while later. Finally, he told us the story of when he (and Andy?), as pretty little kids, hiked down the canal and under the tunnel under the highway to the canyon’s edge—Grandpa tanned their hides for that one.
It was an awesome reunion. For me, one of my favorite things is the jokes. I love the Washburn sense of humor. Here are a few moments I didn’t want to forget:
I was sitting under a tent out of the sun on a beach chair next to Jay and Andy. And here came Big Jeffers walking by, with his shirt off, and noticeably a little chubbier than he was a few months ago. So Andy leaned toward Jay and slyly said, “Your son’s starting to get that married look.”
Dad and Mom didn’t love being sandy and sweaty and hot all day long on the first day, so they second day they weren’t too eager to go back to the lake—not when the alternative was the peace and quiet and air conditioning of the beach house in Greenhaven. I did a photoshoot with Uncle Ted that morning. Then we went on the Hummer Adventure with Otis. Then Mom and Dad drove around Page with me while I tried to find some people I’d worked with on my mission. This made for a long day, but I was excited to get back to the lake, even if it was only for the last hour and half before the sun went down and everyone came in. Mom said, “I’m not sure it’s worth it to go out there for just a hour or so.” And Dad said, “Yeah, if I’m going to suffer, I’m going to suffer for longer than that.”
Uncle Ted, Otis, and Moze picked me up at the Greenhaven gas station at 4:15am on the morning of the second day. Then we drove on dirt roads for about an hour to get to Alstrom Point, which is a cliff high above Lake Powell on the north side. And there we took photos as the sun came up. It was pretty sweet (worth being that tired for, I think). On the way back, Moze was telling Ted about how there was a dispute over some reservation land between the Hopis and Navajo. When Moze said the Hopis finally took the land back, Ted rolled his eyes and said, “Indian givers.”
Little Jeffers, who’s now bigger than me by an inch and about two pounds, challenged me to a race across the bay. We took off swimming, and I gave it all I had. But he still beat me by about a yard or two. As I stood dripping on a rock on the far side, hunched over and panting, I teased him with a quote from the movie Gattaca, which has a scene where two brothers swim out into the ocean: I said, “Jeffers, you know how I almost beat you?—It’s because I didn’t save any strength for the swim back.” And Jeffers said, “You know how I beat you?—It’s because I couldn’t stop thinking of the movie Jaws.”
