In deepest water, with at least a thousand feet separating the boat and me from the shore in all directions, I stopped rowing and laid the oars against the gunwales.
Now for the hard part — the second hardest part. I had to pull the big coat around the body. It was one of those baggy canvas L.L. Bean field coats, with generous snap-down pockets. I’m not sure if it had been my father’s or my brother’s. In any case, it was perfect for the job, or would have been save for one thing: I should have put it on earlier, with the boat still on dry land. I now saw that doing so out in the middle of the lake would be next to impossible. At the very least I’d have to move carefully. If the boat tipped over before I did what needed doing, all would be lost.
Anyway I proceeded. Carefully, as if diffus
