I decided to celebrate the coming of summer to Saskatchewan…finally. I went to Canadian Tire today, and bought a little inner tubey thing to float down the river on. As you can see, it’s lime green with little circles on it. In hindsight, it was probably made for kids littler than me. But it was $4.

So along with two of my sisters and my cousin who’s visiting from Ontario, off we went. Of course, being the Grandpa that I am, I immediately fell asleep on the beach for a little nap. I woke up just in time to see the wind take the tube and send it skittering across the sand. I jumped up and went running across the beach to catch it.

Well…actually, I watched and waited to see if some random brush would stop it. When that failed, then I jumped up and went running after it. By the time I caught it, it was in the water and making a run for Saskatoon. I think it knew what was coming and was trying to escape.

After staking the tube to the sand with a stick, I continued my nap. After a hour or so, I decided it was time for my celebratory summer float down the river. I hiked farther up the river (mostly to avoid the lady who figured Saskatchewan beaches are bathing suit top optional…she made the beach a little awkward), then found a good launching point, and plopped my butt down in my inner tube.

Referring back to my first paragraph, I think it was at this point I actually understood that this tube was not made for big people. But like I said…I really liked the lime green. So I ignored that little voice in my head my parents taught me is important for my personal safety and well being, and I bought the silly thing.

Anyhow, my butt hit the tube…the tube bounced once…and tube and Ken flipped over backwards. All anyone watching would have seen was my legs and butt in the air, sticking out of the water as I back-flipped into the river. Fortunately, due to the aforementioned lady on the beach, no one was paying any attention to me. All I can say is, that crazy little tube should have had a warning on it.

Okay funny…no lie, I just checked, and there is, in fact, a warning…

“FLOTATION TOY WARNING: for use in shallow water and under competent supervision.”

It’s in twenty-four different languages, including Arabic, Chinese and what looks like Russian.

Competent supervision? What exactly does that mean? Whatever…there should still have been some kind of verbal warning at the counter when I bought the thing. Not all of us have the time or inclination to read large-print, clearly worded warnings! Besides, it’s that nice, friendly lime green colour, with all those happy, multi-coloured circles on it. It should have been bright red and covered with tears and little sad faces. And with those circles with slashes through them…over big butts…

I eventually got myself situated on it, but it was still kind of tippy. I figured out, though, that if I wedged my butt way down into the tube and held on down by my legs, I could stay on the thing. That worked quite well until I dragged backwards across a shallow spot and the butt of my bathing suit filled up with sand.

Third time was the charm, as they say. I managed to float happily down the river enjoying the beautiful sunshine and warm summer breeze. It was fully worth whatever pain and humiliation I may have suffered in my earlier acrobatic escapades. It was a good Saskatchewan summer moment…

Well…in a little over a week I’m back on my way south, and this blog will once again be filled with thought provoking, serious and introspective stories of my life as a missionary. Ha ha…that was so funny I almost couldn’t finish typing it. I do hope you keep coming back to the blog, though, and continue walking with me on this crazy adventure. One of the things I love most about this, is that I can write about life and post prayer requests, and I know that people are praying. That’s huge for me…

So thanks for taking the time to read and pray everyone!  I (we) appreciate it!

PS I wasn’t going to write about this, in case some of my guys are reading along. A couple of them are learning English. But I figure they’ve probably given up trying to read this by now. I’ve been wanting to get the guys set up with some soccer gear for awhile now. Soccer is (of course) huge in Bolivia, and most of the guys don’t have anything to play with. Starting out, my plan was just to get them shoes if I could find some deals. In the end, I not only ended up buying shoes, I was able to get shorts, jerseys, socks and a Team Canada soccer ball. I ended up getting nearly $1900 worth of gear for less than $500. There were some great deals…all of the shoes were in the $70-$80 range, and I didn’t pay more than $30. Also, the store manager was great and definitely got caught up in the moment too. She kept finding us more stuff. And every time I asked her the price of something? $5.

Best deal? $80 soccer gloves. Price? $5…

So this all should make going back even more fun! =)

(A huge shout-out to the Soccer Centre on 2^nd Ave. Go there and buy lots of stuff and tell them thanks from the guys from Bolivia!)