Sometimes boys do things like that

It is warm. There is a flood warning. The snow is running off the mountains. You know the creek is running hard when it is fulll of sediment. Sean and Nathan decided to run down to the creek to cool off. They got down to look at it and changed their minds. They wanted to kayak down it. They came back and asked for my permission. I said, "no",  and "no"again, and finally when I could see that they weren't going to listen, (and because I wasn't feeling a terrible foreboding) I said, "I don't want to be a part of this." They took that as a "yes", threw the kayaks into to the back of the truck and headed down to the bridge. That's when the anxiety started. The creek was high. Did they even know how to kayak well enough to handle it. Nathan worked on the lake all summer and knew how to kayak, but that's different, this is a swift river not a lake. He'll loose those flip-flops he was wearing. Will they leave the keys in the car, and not stick them in a pocket? Do I even have another set of keys for the truck? I could imagine keys at the bottom of the creek. My heart sank when I thought of Nathan tipped over and not knowing to fold over to push yourself out rather than to do what is natural and to straighten. I was restless. I couldn't focus. I started praying. Keep them safe. Help them to know of the dangers before they encounter them so that they can be wise. Help them to understand how dangerous it can be. Make them keep their word and stay away from the log jams. They said they would be an hour, but I knew better. I knew I needed to be patient and wait. I dreaded hearing my telephone ring. I thought, if I hear an ambulance I will know I need to worry. (As if I wasn't worrying already). The phone rang. It was Charlie, the neighbor up the road.
"Are your boys in kayaks down on the creek?
Slow and deliberately, trying to calm myself, I responded, "Yes"
"Is that both of your boys or only one of them?"
"Both. I didn't want them to go but they insisted."
"Ann and I have been watching them from the cliff. They are doing okay but you might want to come see this. They have come around the bend, and are coming up on a log swift. The older one is doing really well, but you might want to watch. If it works out okay it is great fun. You know, boys do this kind of thing."
So I ran down to the cliff to watch. By the time I got there they were out of their boats in the middle to the creek on a rocky sand bar working out the log issue. In the process they lost Nathan's boat down the river. Sean headed after it. Duke who had come down with me thought this was the greatest fun and took off down the river swimming after Sean.Oh great, the dog might not be able to handle that kind of a current. Now we will lose the dog too. After watching Sean go out of sight, and seeing Duke come back to meet Nathan, who was on the other side by now, I came back up to the house. I figured it would be a long time before I knew where Sean was. After he caught the boat hung up somewhere, or decided it was an impossible task, he would have to climb out of the river and find a phone somewhere to call me. It could be a long time, and would probably be dark by then. So I decided to drive  across the creek and down a ways to see if I could pick up Nathan, then came back and wait for the phone call. When I got to Evan's I discovered both boys, the boats, and the dog were already there. Sean had retrieved the boat down the river a little way where it had gotten jammed in a log jam. We headed home safely, on my part grateful, and on theirs exhilarated. The neighbor who had watched them with his binoculars and seen them climb out of the river, had jumped in his truck to go get them, and we met him coming back. Sometimes boys do things like that.