Quickly: I got to go kneeboarding today! The "official" premise of our trip was to show us lifeguards what we'd be doing when we guarded on the boat (as an extra precaution for the kids doing water sports), but we all knew going in that it was supposed to be just a fun afternoon and an excuse to get us out of the boring afternoon activities. Which it did, and boy, was it fun! Waterfront director Amie stayed onshore and finished a final few things, but my fellow lifeguards Mandy, Julie, and Barbara, plus the fishing-instructor-cum-lifeguard named Winfield and the water sports supervisor Denise, came along too. John (the boat driver) took us out for about three hours, and we all got a turn at the various pieces of water equipment. Denise, Barbara and Julie are Maine natives, and Julie actually went to school here at Kents Hill, so they were all awesome when their turns came (Julie waterskied, Barbara wakeboarded, and Denise did both). Mandy, Winfield, and I were the beginners, so we started with the easiest option: kneeboarding. Mandy got herself onto the board on her third try but then couldn't pull it off again, and so gave up; Winfield got up a couple of times but never hung on for longer than a few seconds; I got up easily all five times (it's a quick little bouncing maneuver, from the stomach to the knees) but didn't grasp the knack of how to scoot forward to the correct position (with my knees fully into the knee grooves) until the fourth attempt. It takes some balance! And the board material grips so well that you really have to almost walk on your knees, one at a time, until you're there; sliding isn't really possible. But once I was up, I was golden; I was able to hang on forever. The only times I fell off all day were when John got tired of dragging me around and did things like speeding up to the fastest gear and cutting sharp corners. ("Yeah, I was trying to dump you," he admitted.) Hopefully we'll get another afternoon like that sometime, because Mandy and I both want to try wakeboarding next time (which is basically like snowboarding, but on the water). Can't wait!