Do you want to know how rich we were? Ya well no matter how you
answered that question I will answer and the only way you can avoid
it is to stop reading. But don't because then you will never know if
I meant that question ironically or if I was about to revel the
secret of our fabulous wealth. I meant it ironically. There. What I
was going to tell you about was how my dad bought us a house boat, same
as rich folks will have. Well, like rich folks in the sense that they
share a similar name and they both float. Ours was a little more
petite and a lot more fixer-upperish but a boat is a boat. The boat
was about 20 feet long and had an 8' x 8' cabin that needed new decks
and new paint. We put some very nice green all weather plastic carpet
on the deck sand painted her white. The motor was overhauled and we
were off to do some factory fishing but with a twist, Matt and I
could sleep in the cabin while my dad and his cronies hauled in the
catch. It was some of the most fun we had ever had out on the water.
When the boat was dry docked in our side yard it served as an awesome
prop and set for some buckling of swash and to sleep out in just for
the fun of it. Which is why it had to go. My dad likes to keep stuff
around that we never use but the second we showed an interest in
something he loved to rush out and sell it. The house boat was only
ours for one brief season and then it went on to the great beyond of
all things beloved by the Gause children. I can only hope that it is
dry rotting in someones side yard right now. That is what I choose to
believe to cope with the pain of loss.
