I watched a bird struggling in the wind today and it transported me back to the summer after fifth grade. My family went to Rhode Island, where we stayed with friends in their vacation home for a week.

It was beautiful and amazing. There was a small pond out back, accessed by a dock. And the ocean was a few blocks away.

I didn’t care too much for the pond. It had snapping turtles, which terrified me. And, hello, five minutes walk to the frickin’ sea.

But Becky loves to fish. So she asked me to go out in this little row boat with her so she could drop a line. Becky. My older sister. Asked me to hang out with her. When there were other people around.

I think she was avoiding Josh, our friends’ son who was her age, and on whom she had a crush. Whatever. I went with her.

The wind was very strong that day. And we found ourselves in our little boat stuck against the opposite shore of this pond. The water was surrounded by really tall weeds, and we were pressing up against them. Becky tried to row us out and back to the dock. And I was panicking. All of the adults were planning to leave, and then we’d be STUCK here. The birds couldn’t even fly in this wind. We couldn’t swim because of the snapping turtles.

I started screaming for help, my voice also carried away in the wind. Becky was at first irritated, and then defeated, so also yelled. Finally we got some attention.

The solution was for Josh to paddle out on a surf board, climb aboard the boat, have us duck down out of the wind, and then row us to safety. Poor Becky was humiliated. But Josh said, “You’re coming out here with me tomorrow to get this surf board,” so I think it was ok.