The etymology of “pontoon” will come as no surprise: from Latin pontonem (nominative ponto) “flat-bottomed boat,” from pons “bridge”; Pontoon bridge “roadway supported on pontoons” is recorded by 1778.

Almost a week ago we contracted with the owners of Bayview Lodge to rent one of their new pontoons for a day. To our good fortune the weather today was incomparable, the ideal introduction to summer. My partner and I arrived at the marina around 8:30 am as scheduled. Our guests Bruce and Graham arrived shortly before ten o’clock. By that time we had initiated untying the pontoon boat from the new cedar deck. After having gently pushed off onto the wide open lake for an experimental ride, we returned – rather skilfully if I may say so – to the marina to collect our friends. They arrived carrying treats – nutty sweets and fresh orange wedges.  We indulged ourselves in them later when comfortably seated on the boat.

In the interim what particularly amused me – that is, apart from the sweets and citrus wedges – was the nature of the conversation that ensued among us. Each of us four sat positioned on the pontoon craft, reckoning from a distance the weedy shoreline, the infinite blue sky, the glistening sunshine on the water; while at the same time digesting what I surmised to be some of the most candid exchanges I recall having overheard. There was nothing blunt about the marginal differences that surfaced; but the precision of contradiction (as gentle and socially proper as it may have been) exemplified the intellect of the speaker. Instead of flying violently into an utterance of those imbalances, the speaker noted the incongruity, then acknowledged its possible legitimacy, before gently turning his head to the side while nodding slightly southward (and pursing the lips). A moderate concession at best. But I adored the way in which the distinction was preserved without compromise. It is this singularity which inspires casual confabs to the sublime. Sustainable differences!

For me, a more ornate – though equally remote – persuasion of today’s outing was  that it conjoined two signals of delight throughout my life; viz., maritime (boating) and legal (Pleasure Craft Operator Card from National Boating Safety School). Insinuating the rather uncommon model of the boater is an enterprise confounded at times by its uniqueness and its unfamiliarity; at times by the weather. Our progress today was marked instead by indifference, absorption of Vitamin D, and a rather smug but generic conclusion that life in rural Eastern Ontario is not all that bad.

We concluded our little adventure with a late afternoon luncheon at the Mississippi Golf Club where we sat in the shade on the patio overlooking the fairway and the winding Mississippi River.