The Boat..

The boat..
Every 12 yr old boy wants a boat. Mine have been begging for a boat for months. The question remained. What would you do with a boat?! Finally one day much to their great joy, a friend asked if they could find a boat for their pond. This was big stuff. Momma agreed they could look into getting boat. A small boat.

The boys had seen a boat at a local junkyard. A little orange boat. They just knew it was the perfect boat. So Momma agreed to take them to talk to the guy at the junkyard. They faced their fears and walked hesitantly into the office. They asked for and were given permission to have the boat. FREE of cost.

They made arrangements to stop by later to pick up the boat. A couple days later, the neighbor, we shall call him, Mr. N, took them to get the boat. The excitement was high. They were finally getting a boat. They had cleaned out the garage and prepped a spot for it.

They left with Mr. N in his big truck. (I will add: we don't know Mr. N really well. His wife babysits occassionally and is a friend of Momma) Now this is where the story gets a little sketchy...
The 2 boys, both 12 yrs old went into the office at the junkyard, asking to pick up their little orange boat. After much discussion and no one really knowing what they were doing, they were informed that the orange boat had been taken by the Boss's son. 

 But.... there was good news. They could have the big blue boat. It had a trailer and everything! Mr. N and the guy from the junkyard quickly hooked the trailer before the boys could think twice.
The boys were silent on the way home, at one point one mentioned that maybe his momma would not like this big boat.

They pulled into the driveway. Momma came to the door, her eyes got big, and she scrambled to figure out what she was seeing.  She looked at Mr. N and exclaimed "That is the wrong boat!!" Mr. N dropped the boat in the middle of the driveway, waved merrily  and drove off. 

By this time the boys were feeling a little sick to their stomachs. They looked hesitantly at their mother. Would she blow a fuse?

Meanwhile Momma was just trying to grasp what had transpired and how there came to be a big blue boat on a trailer sitting on her driveway.



First question:
Mom: Where do you intend to use that boat?
Boys: The local lake
Mom: how will you get it there? Do you have a title for it? Does it run?!
Boys: we will figure it out!! The trailer must be worth something. We can do soemthing with it.
Mom: excuse me for a second while I go take a time out and pray before reacting..


After about 10 minutes in the bathroom, Momma had a full out giggling fit because it was just so absolutely beyond crazy. There was a giant blue boat sitting on the driveway, they couldn't even move it out of the way. It was completely gutted. It was almost half the length of the friend's pond.

There was a lesson to be learned here. The boys realized they had made a big mistake. Mom realized that this was an excellent oppurtunity for learning a valuable life lesson. But they needed a plan. they couldn't sell it cause they had no title. They couldn't keep it because well despite all the boys pleas, it wasn't practical. It couldn't stay on their front driveway cause the landlord would not appreciate that.

So Momma called the junkyard and asked if the boat could be returned. They said it could be and offered some lame story about how the other boat had been claimed by someone else. The boys had to go back to Mr. N and ask him to return the boat to the junkyard.

Mr. N was a very busy man and Momma was very concerned that he would wait weeks to return the boat. She giggled every time she looked at that monster. The boys got angry everytime they looked at it. Their dreams were washed down the drain. If only they had a dad. He would surely allow them to keep such a treasure.


Several days later, a young neighbor boy (we shall call him B) was helping the boys work on their wood projects. Momma knew that B loved adventures. So she offered the boat to him. For free! He could not believe his good fortune. Now, Momma expected B's parents to laugh and refuse to let him have the boat.

but... God was looking out for Momma, who was mortified by the boat sitting on her driveway. 30 minutes after B left and the family was eating dinner, they heard a tractor putt putting up the road, it stopped at their driveway.

B and his father hopped off the tractor and examined the boat. Mr. B looked at momma and said "B says you have a free boat and he can have it, is that true?" Momma with great delight said yes!! yes!! please please take the boat!!

Mr. B discussed with Little B. Maybe they could scrap some of the copper etc on the boat. Maybe they could make a clubhouse. Surely they could sell the trailer for some cash. They were so delighted to have the boat. Mr. B told Little B, we must take it out back tho so Mom don't see it.


They took that boat and drove it home behind their tractor. The boys followed in glee. They were going to help B make a clubhouse out of the boat. They ran off to enlist the help of some other neighbor boys. 

There was some question of who had the biggest grin when that boat went down the road. Mr. B who liked his free boat. The boys who did not have to get rid of their boat AND got a clubhouse out of the deal. Momma who was so unbelievably happy to have that boat off her hands.