Our bodies are amazing instruments. Not only do our bodies provide a fairly efficient means for moving our brain and spirit from one location to another they have an unequaled ability to process billions of biologic and electronic signals and processes with little to no cognitive direction. BUT occasionally these automatic functions are responsible for some uncontrollable and sometimes inappropriate thoughts and actions. For example, you might remember RT's recent posts on public flatulence.

My Saturday started at 4:00 am. This is when my clock radio switched from sleep mode to music alarm mode.

It was Dennis DeYoung and STYX singing "Come Sail Away".

"A gathering of angels appeared above my head
They sang to me this song of hope, and this is what they said
They said come sail away, come sail away
Come sail away with me
Come sail away, come sail away
Come sail away with me

I thought that they were angels, but to my surprise
They climbed aboard their starship and headed for the skies
Singing come sail away, come sail away
Come sail away with me
Come sail away, come sail away
Come sail away with me"

I love moments like this, when you and the world seem to be in perfect sync.

I rolled out of bed rubbed my eyes before sitting down at my computer to quickly check my e-mail and the status of my torrent download of last weeks "Dead Zone" episode. Did any of you know that they were still making new episodes of this show?

Fast forward:

• Make and sip my coffee.
• Print off my 'A' boarding pass for my Monday AM flight (Southwest Airline issues boarding passes, labeled A, B, and C, instead of assigning seats. The boarding passes are issued on a first-come-first-served basis. The 'A' passes are issued first and the 'A' people get the choice seats and are almost guaranteed a spot in the overhead bin for carry-on bags. I had a carry-on.
• Remotely connect to the network at work to set my away message in exchange.
• Change the oil in the boat (I'd purchased oil for the boat and replacement light bulbs for those that are burned out in both my cars. Total was $115.43, Someone's making money here.)
• Replace the headlights and one fog light on the 'Stang.
• Pull the 'Stang out of the garage and pull the Tahoe into the shade. (It was only 7:30 AM and it was already 96 degrees outside.) Summers in the Southwestern Desert are better suited to insects and rodents that can either hide in the shade under a rock or burrow into the cool moist soil than it is for humans. We humans hibernate like bears in our air conditioned homes during the summer.
• Replace one fog light and one tail light in the Tahoe.
• Shower and shave
• Hook the boat up to the Tahoe and load up the family
• Stop for gas ($86.00), ice ($6.25), and beer ($3.59). I wish my car and boat could run on beer.
• Drive to Roosevelt Lake (Lake pleasant is about 60 miles closer to where I like but is anything but pleasant on the weekends. We've skied there a couple times and seem to spend too much time worrying about if the downed skier can avoid getting hit by other boats while waiting for us to swing around to get them. I've actually had to put our boat "Margarita", a Reinell, 19.7 foot, 5.7 liter, 127 horsepower weekend toy into the path of a speed boat that was headed directly for my son who was bobbing up and down in the water, waiting to be picked up after a rather exhausting wakeboard ride. The speed boar turned away probably never seeing my son in the water. Luckily we didn't end up a "Margarita on the rocks".
• Drive . . . Drive . . . . . Drive

Finally it was time for us to "Sail Away". We were launched and on our way at about 10:30.

After a couple successful ski and tube rides I was at the helm of Margarita when it happened. My son, apparently affected by the heat as well, decided to take a dip in the lake to cool off. As he lifted himself over the edge of the boat, aiming for the refreshingly cool water caught his leg in the hand rung on the side of the boat. He was hanging there, upside down, his leg caught in the rung above him, his arms and hands frantically reaching for something to hold and his head completely submerged in the water. I suddenly became aware that my mind (influenced by the accumulated effects of habits, hormones, lack of sleep and the debilitating heat) had slipped, unnoticed, from my control. I responded to the peril my son suddenly found himself in by breaking out in uncontrollable laughter. My sudden awareness of the fact that I was no longer in charge of my own mind and body tickled me, causing even more laughter (giggling actually). My wife looked at me in horror; clearly she hoped I would do something to rectify the situation to prevent my son from breathing water. Thousands of years of evolution on land have nearly all but eliminated the ability of our bodies to absorb oxygen from water. Splash, splash went his arms.

"Scott, do something!" was the cry from my wife. The tone in her voice was frantic, filled with terror and urgency. My mind began processing the information with lightening speed. You know how, when you receive a phone call, within the first few syllables you can tell if something is wrong and that the caller has something very serious to communicate? I turn my automatic systems off and regained control of my mind and body, quickly releasing my son's foot, which allowed him to turn himself upright and once again efficiently absorb oxygen from the air. The situation was serious and potentially lethal but my automatic systems responded as if it was some type of joke. Was my response to the situation inappropriate or somehow part of human survival instincts? My response came from deep within my subconscious, programmed through thousands of years of environmental and evolutionary influence. Was my primordial response some type of survival response to external stimuli? Why do we like to watch Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote cartoons? Do our subconscious survival instincts somehow relate to the dire situations Wile E. Coyote finds himself in?

Perhaps the creator of all things does have a sense of humor, look at the giraffe.