Eighty-five. Sunny. A slight breeze. Not a cloud in the sky. That’s how most of us want our weather in the summertime. Meteorologist Shawna Olson has been forecasting the weather on the local NBC and CBS stations for the past five years. She is knowledgeable about her trade, and knows exactly how to communicate her excitement for fantastic weather, as well as the weather disturbances that come our way.
Shawna could never have predicted what happened to her over the extended July 4th weekend. Shawna, newly engaged to be married, was relaxing with her friends on the lake in her boat on what had to be the nicest day of the summer. Mostly sunny. Low humidity. Barely any wind. Plenty of great company. Life was good.
That is, until one of her friends (who shall remain nameless for self-preservation purposes) decided to spray the boat with a huge wall of water via jet ski. Many of her friends were laughing. However, one was not. In fact, this person’s sole job for the day was to stay high and dry in the boat and hold on to Shawna’s engagement ring. This ring had been placed ever so gently on this trustworthy friend’s pinky.
When the wall of water rocked the boat, it also shook the responsible friend, who was a little upset over getting drenched and having a wet camera, not to mention all of the food on the boat getting wet. Hands, legs, hair, and fingers were all now drenched by this tidal wave. And more than just wet pretzels went overboard: the ring was no longer on the pinky finger of Shawna’s friend.
That’s when “Mission: Find that Ring” commenced. Thankfully, the boat had been anchored in a shallow, sandy spot on Rush Lake. One friend stayed positioned precisely where the ring may have fallen, while another friend donned snorkeling gear and dove to the sandy bottom to search for the ring. The friends stayed still and focused. They were determined they were going to find the ring. It had to be there somewhere.
Shawna, who began to interject calmness into the rapidly emotional situation, would repeatedly throw out supportive but realistic things like, “Don’t worry, guys. The ring is insured, so don’t worry if you don’t find it.” None of the comments made anyone in the group look any less.
A strategic line of feet was planted in the area where the ring was believed to be in the lake. With snorkels, fins, and goggles, several people began diving down to the bottom of the lake bed in search of a very expensive needle in an expansive haystack.
Hopes quickly began to fade. Each time the friends felt on the sandy floor, the movement would kick up a cloud of sand that made it impossible to see under the water.
Meanwhile, the soon-to-be groom was ready to join in on probably one of the most important searches of his life. Flying across the lake on his jet ski with additional snorkel gear, Kris was hoping for some sign of hope as he returned to the now dubbed “accident scene.”
When hope was at its lowest point, and the search was about to go into low gear, a final dive took place. Twenty feet from the initial anchored spot, a sparkle appeared. The partly cloudy sky parted and allowed the sun to provide added light straight through to the lake floor. Among all the sand and shells, with its diamonds plunged straight into the sand bottom, there it was – the diamond engagement ring.
As it was plucked from the water like the raising of Excalibur from the deep sea, the entire party screamed with delight. A huge sigh of relief had just renewed this 4th of July celebration.
By the way, Shawna’s ring has stayed safely on her finger ever since. Her latest forecast is for a long and happy marriage to her fiance Kris. Finding that ring — priceless!
