BOAT RACING!

Cheers, laughter and the refreshing sounds of the boys' splashing in the stream rolled up and over the embankment below our campsite. I grabbed my camera and ventured down into the cool, dark canopy of pines and alders that grew along the waterline.

Our boys had created two "whitewater" racing channels out of river rocks and fallen branches. Andrew D held between his fingers miniature boats whittled from small twigs.

"3 - 2 - 1 - Launch!", came the cry. Into the stream the vessels went, tossling along in the water, bumping and bouncing their way downstream.

"Man down!" A boat had submerged in the "rapids", only to resurface a few moments later. Rocks, pockets, branches and other natural obstacles made the race as exciting as any professional speed boat race. "Slash! Sploosh!" The boys tromped downstream, one after the other, each clumsily chasing his hand-carved masterpiece.

"Can I race?" I wanted to join the fun.

"Sure, you just need to carve a boat."

"Can you float my feather?" I had just spent the afternoon lazily whittling a neckerchief slide from a balsa wood kit.

"Wow! Did you do that?!" Andrew A was impressed. "Mrs Redmond's boat is EPIC!"

Ever the encourager, Zach grunted, "You have to have a captain."

Each boy had painstakingly hollowed out little holes in the top and plugged in tiny stick "captains."

"My captain is in his cabin." I turned my feather over to reveal the bulky squared off ring for the neckerchief.

I took their laughter for a yes, as Andrew D reached his fingers toward me. I slipped my feather boat into it's "launch" and down they went.

"Splash! Sploosh!" The noise and cheering got my adrenalin going, but I couldn't see anything past the crowd of boys schlomping along in the water.

"Hey! You won! Mrs Redmond won!" I was tickled to hear Andrew A's acclaim for the second time, "Mrs Redmond's boat is EPIC!"

As any mom can imagine, a million bucks and a golden trophy couldn't have meant more to me. In that moment of fleeting glory, I belonged...