A Novice Islander

[rgilfert]

Last Friday evening I spent out on Rattlesnake with my daughter and her family having a great time in the beautiful weather. My wife wasn't with us because she was involved in a "girls night out" at home in Bedford. Then on Saturday evening we had a joint social commitment that I needed to return home to join her for. As you all know Saturday was absolutely beautiful on the lake as well.... so my perfectly conceived plan was to stay on the island as long as possible, delaying my departure in order to have a "just in time" arrival back in Bedford. I procrastinated in making my departure and only left a 15 minute margin for making the 75 minute drive. Around 5:00 PM I loaded up the boat and headed out for the West Alton Marina. Everything was going according to plan and was progressing exactly according to the anticipated time line. I slid into our slip at WAM by about 5:15 and immediately launched into my post-docking ritual of "putting the boat to bed" which includes the boring (& time consuming) task of putting the boat covers back on. By 5:30 I was just a couple of minutes behind schedule....and was thankful that I had built 15 minutes of margin into the plan. I tossed my trash into the dumpster and headed for my car feeling good that I had maximized my enjoyment at the lake that day and was going arrive back in Bedford in time to avoid troubles on the home-front! As I frantically searched through the multitude of pockets in my "cargo" shorts I realized that I had left my car keys out on the island. Making a long story short.....I ultimately arrived back at home to a very icy reception! This was just another indication that I have a lot to learn about island living (but that is a very happy problem to have)!