Water, Water, Everywhere

The alarm buzzed. Groggily, I rolled over and looked out the window. Still dark. Clear sky. Piles of snow lining the street. I considered curling under the covers a few minutes longer, when something landed on my chest. “Ooph.” “Morning, Dad,” said my 11-year-old daughter. “Can’t wait to get to the hotel.” She kissed my cheek and rolled off the bed. I was awake now—and smiling. Looking over, I noticed she was wearing her bathing suit—geared up and ready for the hotel pool at 6:30 a.m. Impressive. I worked my way out of bed and started the process of packing the car for our short spring break trip—marveling at how my tween was still in love with water. Later, as we drove both my 11-year-olds discussed how they were looking forward to time on the lake this summer. My 16-year-old chimed in wanting to plan our paddleboard tour of all the local waterways—and how she wanted to couple it with camping. “Maybe we can board to an island and spend the night,” she asked. “Sounds good to me,” I replied. My wife glanced at me—with a message that was something like, “I’m not camping on an island.” And on it went. Spring fever was hitting us hard. The same thing is happening all across the country right now. Spring fever.

To help you satiate the aquatic needs of your community, we’ve put together our annual aquatics issue—covering all the ideas, tips, and tricks our team has uncovered. It’s another winner—one we enjoyed creating. I hope you like it, too. If you do or don’t, let us know. We love mail.