Saved by the Surfer

Something very scary happened on Saturday.

We had gone up to the family’s place on Hondo Creek near Tarpley for the day with Mary’s older son and his family, including a brother-in-law up from from Peru. Now there’s a little sinkhole on the creek below the house that's fun to dip in. Only on this day, due to torrential rains, it was an angry maelstrom. Several members of the family were sitting around the edge, daring only to dip their feet in the water when I decided to join them.

But first I had to jump across the little waterfall that feeds into the sinkhole, a leap that I often make. Well, this time I didn’t make it. Suddenly I was in the sinkhole, bobbing up and down and paddling for my life. Instantly Mary jumped in to save me and got sucked into the swirling water. Then her daughter-in-law jumped in to save her. Same scenario. Who saved the day was Luis, who used to be a surfer in Peru. Instead of joining the endangered trio, he stayed on the side, stretched his arm and was just able to grab us, one by one.

The good news was we survived. The bad news was the ladies lost their prescription eyeglasses. But we learned several truths. I learned that Mary would risk her life for me. Mary learned the Mariana would do the same for her. And we all gained greater respect for the power of water. Believe you me, I will never come near that sinkhole again. Read my lips. Oh—I forgot—dogs don’t have lips, do they?