Entirely to Close for Comfort

TH, Youngest and his wife were all down on the Kenai dip netting for red salmon (sockeye), when this occurred.  They are really, really lucky to still be alive. 

A wave hit the boat swamping the front, and before they had a chance to do anything, yet another wave hit the boat, causing the front to become so heavy as to flip the boat.  TH was pushed from the boat by the strength of the water, becoming entangled in the fishing net and was unable to move, luckily he was tangled up in such a way that his head was above the water.  Youngest was thrown into the water, the boat coming down on him across the back and wrist.  Little Wife was trapped under the boat, breathing from an air pocket until she got her bearings and figured out how to get out.  As she was getting free of the boat Youngest saw her legs and pulled her up to the edge of the boat, which was now floating upside down.  Youngest got up on the bottom of the boat, ran the length to TH and held him up while getting his knife and cutting TH free.

Poor wee Pepper was in a life vest but was trapped under the boat and didnt make it.

Three saved, dog lost as boat capsizes in Kenai River

Posted: July 17, 2014 - 9:01pm

By DAN BALMER

Peninsula Clarion

A boat capsized on the Kenai River sending three people and a dog overboard Wednesday night.
Nearby boats pulled all three people out of the water but the dog didn’t survive, said Kenai Police Lt. David Ross.
The incident occurred at about 9:46 p.m. when a wave went over the bow of the boat, causing it to flip over. Police did not release the names of the boaters, but all three were wearing life jackets, Ross said.
While all boats in the water may have contributed to the waves that caused the boat to flip, having so many boats close by made for a quick recovery, he said.
“It’s a lot easier to rescue people that are floating,” he said.
The Kenai rescue boat arrived shortly afterward and transported two people back to land while the other person received a ride from a fellow boater. The three people did not suffer any injuries. The capsized boat was recovered from the river, Ross said.

Goldilocks

 Golidlocks:

Denoting or referring to the most desirable or advantageous part of a range of values or conditions (typically the center).

My tale begins 35 years ago, when I visited the Woolworth's in downtown Fairbanks with my sister-in-law to buy various items when TH and I were first setting up housekeeping.   Towels, sheets, blankets, pots and pans, and a pillow for me.  I must have bought the very last chopped chicken feather pillow in existence.  I loved that pillow, it wasn't the least bit fluffy, and stayed in any shape I punched and folded it into.   It traveled with me, weighing a ton, but it was home in a pillow "dress" as my grandma called pillow slips/cases.

As the years past, the covering began to wear thin, so I sewed up a new one complete with a zipper.  I bought cheap pillows to cannibalize their feathers to add to the ever diminishing pillow.  How much if any of the original feathers were left after 15 years?  Who knows, but I kept patching and sewing and adding to my pillow, bereft at the very idea of a new pillow.

Until....................

Right before I left Arizona, I began to notice that which ever side of my face spent the most time on my pillow would be slightly swollen.   The idea that MY pillow was making me sick was slowly leaching into my thoughts.  I tossed it into its monthly trip in the dryer, and that night I woke up struggling to breathe, with my face swollen and beet red.  This is from a person who is allergic to both eggs and all forms of poultry.....I never claimed to be brilliant now did I? 

That was the day Pillow was tossed into the trash.  But whatever was I to sleep upon?  Allergic to feathers, so thats out.  Allergic to the synthetic pillows, scratch that.  Cotton?  Wool? Gah!!!!

Remembering my Japanese daughter-in-laws fruitless search for a non-fluffy pillow, I didnt hold out a great deal of hope.  And then! Light bulb!  I finally recollected what she ended up using, two large towels folded together, and put into a pillow case.  So thats what I tried.  It took a while to get it right, folding the towels first one way and another, folding them separately and then together, but finally got something I could sleep on.  It was about half the size of a "normal" pillow, but it worked.  Wasn't perfect by a long shot but at least it was something to sleep on.

And so began the big pillow hunt.  I finally found a wool one that had no flame retardants, no fake-y crud, just natural washed wool.   Made up of small tuffs of wool, it works like a down pillow, with out the down.

It didnt make me sick, a win for sure, but was way to fluffy and soft, ugh, and much to "tall" for my short neck.  I pulled out more and more of the guts, and it was a better height but wasnt right, still to soft.   One night after many fruitless tries to find the 'Goldilocks' spot pulling filling from the pillow, putting some back in, over and over and over........ and finally giving up and putting my towel "pillow" back on the bed it struck me like a bolt from the blue!  If either one isn't right, then maybe combining the two would be!?!  I pulled the dress off my pillow, carefully arranged the towels to be the same size as the pillow, and wrestled it into the pillow dress.  Which was not an easy task at all,  everything kept slipping around, grrrrrrrr. 

Ok, finally won the pillow content and dress battle! 
                   w00t!
 I laid down, with nearly zero hope that it would be something I could sleep on. 

Oh my!  This is what I've been searching for!  I found my Goldilocks pillow.  Not to tall, not to soft, and not to hard.  It was jussst right!

  And I have enough stuffing to make a smaller travel sized pillow, complete with towel.  Life is sweet in the Goldilocks zone.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldilocks_principle