Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 9
MILL CREEK STORIES
And then came the big closer. "If you see
a puppy drowning, you want to be such a
strong swimmer that you can save it, don't
you? I mean, you don't want to have to
stand on the bank helpless because you
didn't learn to swim, right?"
Every year, that's the sentence that
pushed every chubby-cheeked face right
into the water. No one cared about learning
to swim for themselves, but one day a puppy
might need saving so we must all master the
breast stroke.
So I learned the Australian crawl, the back
stroke, the butterfly and everything else Mr.
Baskins threw at us with one exception. Because this was country swimming, one of the
test items on the Beginner exam was to pull yourself out
of the water and into a canoe without sinking the canoe.
It made sense. The probabilities were pretty good that
we'd upset a boat at some point and need to be able to
get back into it.
I could never do it. I had the upper body strength of
a newborn kitten. Everyone else in class, year after year,
made it. Everyone else hoisted themselves into the canoe
and passed into the Intermediate class. Everyone but me.
Lord knows I tried. The first year, I exhausted myself giving it all I had. The next year, I had prepared by carrying
No one cared about learning to
swim for themselves, but one day
a puppy might need saving so we
must all master the breast stroke.
around big piles of books trying to get stronger so I could
heave myself into the canoe triumphantly. I was indeed a
wee bit brawnier. I ended up tipping the canoe, sending
a surprised Mr. Baskins into the drink. The next year, I
pulled myself up on the edge of the canoe, catching the
top of my two-piece bathing suit, embarrassing us all.
That beat up, green canoe was my childhood nemesis. I felt it sneering, taunting me. I was actually a good
swimmer, but I could not lift my ballast end out of the
water to save my life. That's okay. I'm pretty sure saving
a drowning puppy does not involve my old arch enemy,
the canoe.
visitwytheville.com
1-877-347-8307
JULY/AUGUST 2019
9
http://www.visitwytheville.com
http://www.gilescounty.org
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - Intro
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - Cover1
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - Cover2
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 3
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 4
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 5
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 6
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 7
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 8
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 9
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 10
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 11
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 12
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 13
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 14
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 15
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Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 17
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 18
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 19
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 20
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 21
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Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 25
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 26
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 27
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 28
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 29
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 30
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 31
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Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 34
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 35
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 36
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 37
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 38
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 39
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 40
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 41
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 42
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 43
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Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 49
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Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 62
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 63
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Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 72
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 73
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - 74
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - Cover3
Blue Ridge Country - July/August 2019 - Cover4
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