We had purchased our old cape a decade ago with hopes of someday taking advantage of the fact that it was on water. Apart from swimming on hot summer days in the lazy river was my dream to someday taxi a float plane up to the dock in our own backyard. The latter goal was always just that-a goal. A fallen oak had other plans, covering half the river with it's bows and limbs but a few hundred yards upstream.
Granted that tree provided many bass for the anglers in it's cool summer shadows, but I had other motives, and secretly wished the currents to come along and sweep it toward the dam downstream of our house. This spring my wish was realized, as I looked upstream as the snow melted and saw no tree! My heard skipped a beat and I at once envisioned what it would feel like to taxi the float plane down the river to our dock. The tree was gone, now I had no excuse but to try demonstrate my float plane taxi skills.
Last Friday the weather cooperated, and on this perfect day with gentle breezes from the south I made my trek down the river after touching down on the floats. What a wonderful feeling to shut the engine down and drift into the shallow familiar waters surrounding our home. All the rocks, sticks, mud and Lily pads were so familiar to me from the shores of dreaming of this day, and now I got to see them from a different angle...from the step on the Cessna's float. My two wonderful worlds were combining...I was in heaven.
Timing not coincidental, I went up to the house and when my family got home that evening, I feigned that I had launched the boat that day, and so my car was across the lake, and therefore not in the driveway. They bought it, and so I then suggested we go for a quick boat ride, again they took the bait...this was going to be fun. When they got to the end of the wooded river path their surprise was worth the years of wait and effort. "Wow!" they said, "you did it!" "Let's go flying" was my reply. And after preflighting, boarding, and "un" docking we were off for one of the prettiest flights ever. Lifting off the water and circling the island, shores, buoys and houses you're so familiar with was exhilarating, and sharing this with friends and family was beyond words. We flew to a nearby river where the float plane calls it's "home" and went out for a bite to eat.
How can a pilot top lifting off from their own backyard with family and friends beaming out the windows? For this one I'm not sure that's possible. If "home is where the heart is" then I think that I found mine.
