A Summer Day Essay, Research Paper

A Summer Day

Driving across the bridge over Lake Ray Hubbard one sunny Saturday afternoon, I was overcome with the gentle breeze blowing through my open window and decided to stop for a little while. I pulled off the highway and parked the car. Upon exiting the car, I walked to the edge of the water and sat down.

As I sat on the warm sand, I began to pick up handfuls of the sand and let it slowly filter through my open fingers. I also became aware of the activities going on around me. A man to my left was baiting a fishing line with a minnow. Once he had the line baited, he gave a mighty cast of the rod and launched the line into the sparkling water. He then sat down in a green, blue and white striped lawn chair to wait on a fish to catch his bait. The gentle bobbing on the water was mesmerizing and I had to look away before I nodded off to sleep.

Off to the right was a cove with sandy beaches. Several boats were anchored in the cove. One of the boats was a large with cabin cruiser with green accents. Two men and two women were on board. The two men tied air mattresses to the side of the boat and the women proceeded to lie on the mattresses for a little sunbathing. One woman had long blonde hair and wore a hot pink bikini. The other woman had short brown hair and wore a black one-piece bathing suit. The two men brought out a football and started tossing the ball to each other. They were running up and down the beach tossing the ball back and forth. Before too long several teenage boys approached them and they all played football.

The man on my left suddenly sat up a little straighter and I noticed that the bobber on his fishing line was repeatedly being dragged under the water. He waited until just the right moment and gave a quick jerk on the rod to set the line. He then vigorously reeled in the line. More than once, he had to stop and start reeling again. After a few minutes, he finely had the fish close enough that he could scoop the fish up with a fishing net. I could tell he was excited with his catch because he turned to show the fish to me with a big grin on his face. He said it was about a four-pound catfish. I smiled at him and gave him a thumbs-up signal.

I looked out further in front of me and noticed a bright red ski boat with several people on board. One of the occupants was in the water wearing skis. The boat took off and the skier came up out of the water. He began showing off a little by going from side to side and holding one foot out of the water. He was jumping waves when the boat sped out of sight into more open areas of the lake.

I heard screaming and laughing and turned to see numerous kids running, jumping, and splashing in the water. I could tell the kids were having a good time by all the squeals of delight. One little girl bent down and came back up with her palms lifted upward spraying water on herself and those closest to her. A boy who looked to be about ten years old came running from behind one of the boats and in his hands was a high-powered water blaster. He ran around shooting people with blasts of water. Apparently, he blasted the two women on the air mattresses because they both sat up in a big hurry and looked around. One of the women fell off her raft in her attempt to get up. Of course, everyone around who witnessed this started laughing. The woman didn?t seem to be too pleased; but after a few moments, she started laughing herself. One of the teenage boys sneaked up behind the boy with the water blaster and took it away from him and started shooting the boy with water. It wasn?t funny to the little boy to be shot with his own gun, so he ran off crying to his parents that someone had taken his gun from him and was shooting him with water.

One of the other boats in the cove had a barbeque grill on the back and a man in a white t-shirt and dark shorts was dumping charcoal into the grill. Once the grill was ready, the man put what looked to be steaks on the grill. Before long, the smell of steaks was wafting through the air. Smelling the steaks made me realize I was hungry.

I decided it was time for me to leave but before getting up, I took one more look around. The man on my left was still fishing, the boat with skiers was back and seemed to be trading out skiers, and of course, there was all the activity in the cove. I was content to be a bystander but at the same time, a part of me wanted to be involved in the each of the various activities. I was very happy that the gentle breeze had urged me to exit and come to the waters edge and observe other people at play and relaxation.