wakeboarding and the help of neighbors

Friday, September 17, 2004, at 05:03PM

By Eric Richardson

Out in the sun again today, wakeboarding out at Canyon Lake. It was great. We got there at 9:30, when it was still a little overcast. The lady at the gate assured me it was going to burn off, and burn off it did. By the time we got off the water at 4:30pm we were all well-done. After accidentally trying a back roll last week, I tried them for real this time. I didn't land one, but I had two that were landable. My rotation's there, I just need to do the little things like keeping the handle on my left hip so that I land facing forward. Next week I'll land it.

I had the weirdest thing happen once we got back. A girl rode back from the lake with me and came over to help me carry the equipment up to my apartment. So that we could unload I parked my car in the little lot next to the building. After unloading we went back to the car and went to back away. Something felt weird. "Are we dragging something?," I asked. She didn't think so. "I think you're just turning the wheel too far." I backed up a little more. "No, we're definitely dragging something." She got out, went to the front of the car, and just sort of laughed. "What is it?" She didn't say. "Just come here."

I stuck the car in park and walked up front. Wedged under the frontend was one of the little concrete bars that are supposed to keep you from running into the wall. Well, it turns out the bar was too short for my frontend to hit it, but a little metal bar on one end wasn't. It had gotten itself jammed into something in the undercarriage.

I tried to pull it out. No deal.

Marieke tried standing on it while I tried to back up. She and the bar moved with the car.

We were standing there trying to figure out what to do when a guy walking down the sidewalk stopped to try and help. The three of us figured the answer was probably picking up on the frontend while someone pulled the bar out. As we were about to try this a hispanic family was walking by. Without even asking any questions the man stopped, walked over to the front left wheel-well, and got set to lift. I got the other wheel-well, and our first passer-by friend pulled the now-free bar out and back to its original position. The hispanic man headed off. The first guy turned out to live a floor above me in my apartment building.

A random predicament, and within minutes all sorts of people are coming to my aid. I love that. That's why this neighborhood's cool.