Saturday, July 23, 2011

The Captain

I mentioned the Captain in my other blog entry and tonight seemed like the perfect time to write about him.

The Captain is better known as my Sweetheart, but he's such a heroic and romantic figure that I can hardly be expected to stop there. Tall, dark, and handsome only barely begins to describe him. He is indeed tall, but also slim, and quick. He fences. In fact he has awards for fencing, and everyone else I've seen attempt the sport could not come close to his elegance. Even his name, Gabriel, exudes so much romance. He's a writer, a poet, has a wonderful singing voice, and he's all MINE! ^.^

Now that I've introduced the Captain, and asserted my claim on him, I can tell you about our evening. I had gone over to the Captain's family home out in the country. Not long after I arrived a thunderstorm started. While I was enjoying the rain and watching out for flooding, Aisling, my best friend and the Captain's sister, ran out to find her cat who was not in her usual safe haunt. Aisling hastily donned a plastic poncho and dashed out into the storm in search of her pet. The Captain decided to go out after her and reached for an umbrella just as thunder shook the house. I made a vague threat about either of them being struck. The Captain attempted to find out if I would come to the funeral as he went out the door and just as he called back “I love you!” and shut the door an ominously loud crash of thunder tore the air.

A few tense minutes later the Captain returned with Aisling after rescuing the cat from the car she had been trapped under, along with a stream of water that came up to her little kitty ankles.

After the storm passed and before dinner the Captain, who was very tired from waking up early, fell asleep on the couch. I'll admit to seeing him there and thinking how sweet he looked curled up on his side with one hand dangling off the edge of the couch and his face half hidden in his arm. It's hard to be so romantic all the time, sometimes you have to take a break and just be adorable.

After dinner everyone got in the pool. We paddled around for awhile playing with floaties and chatting. At one point the Captain's older brother somehow got ahold of the Captain and dragged him to the edge of the pool. I'm not entirely certain how but the Captain ended up being pushed out over the edge of the pool head first, much to the distress of myself and the Captain's mother. As I watched the Captain managed to flip himself around with his brother holding on and land on his feet like a cat. Then he just swung one long leg over the edge and stepped back into the waist high water.

After swimming everyone decided to get dressed and go down to the creek to see the bridge the Captain has been building. I ran through the wet grass in my sandals to the trees just as evening was beginning. A slight fog hung over the forest and the creek was flooding, running fast and deep under the cables of the bridge. The Captain has been working on putting together the wooden sections for months, largely on his own, and finally the parts are coming together. The Captain was already standing above the rushing creek when I arrived, swaying ever so slightly to keep his balance with the motion of the bridge. He stepped lightly off the wood and onto one of the cables, causing his mother to gasp, and jumped back down to the ground.

One by one everyone climbed on to see the view. Each person would crawl across to about the middle and then sit and stare with awe at the sky, the trees, and the water. When they could be coaxed off they would crawl back and the Captain would help them down.

After my turn the Captain and his younger brother headed across. I was standing on the bank watching him and watching the water. I stepped closer to the bridge after inspecting the sections that had not yet been placed on the bridge (to see how they fit on the cables.) I stood on the muddy bank with one hand on the cable and very suddenly my wet sandal slid out from under me and down into the water. I caught the edge of the nearest section with my left arm but the bank was too slippery and I didn't have enough of a grip to pull myself up. I could feel myself sliding deeper into the mire and my sandals began to stick in the soft clay.

In an instant after I had slipped the Captain was on the bank again and caught my arm. There was a momentary struggle as my sandals refused to come with me but were too tightly buckled on to let go of my foot. In the end the Captain won over my rebellious sandals and pulled me up and out of the water.


I was wet, caked in mud, scratched on one arm, and bruised on another, but my Captain had rescued me. My wonderful, heroic Captain.

2 comments:

  1. I… I… ^_______________________________^ I just love you sweety. I'm glad I could help you out of the creek, and God is really the one who makes me the way I am. I take no credit for it.

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  2. Wait! Wait! I take some credit. I put an awful lot of hard work into that rogue, and I demand some credit!

    Kidding. I just love to bask in his presence too. He is everything you say he is and more. He, and you, are complete delights in my life and I thank God for you both.

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