To the north indeed. This weekend is the annual trip to Orr, and I'm stoked. Weeks of office zombery, some really bizarre situations with friends and family, and probably the worst sleep I've been getting in two years has combined to make me one frayed-out white boy.
I'm really glad my parents took me traveling when I was little. I still think camping is fun (though I hate the spiders in some areas) and I loved canoe trips to the boundary waters when I was younger. I haven't gone on one in SO long, but it seems like an idea that will have to wait for a little while.
There's something about Sheep Ranch Road that makes me think of the time I spent as a kid out in the woods. Admittedly, we have this crazy awesome hunting cabin with actual beds and a generator (still no running water, but that's fine - we use beer) to make it cushier, but that's not what it's about. It's about all of us (maybe thirteen of us this year, phew) getting away from the cities and doing whatever the hell we want. I'm looking forward to putting my grandfather's rifle through its paces again, it's a fun little thing.
I'll never forget that first trip. All of us thought we were adults, sitting outside near a fire or in that tiny shack and playing card games, with no idea of what real life was like. Everyone was leaving for basic training/boot camp soon, the rest of us were going to college, and everything seemed big and limitless and scary. The night after we played frisbee - I've never seen so many stars, a sky so bright. It was like a sunrise, but it was just the light of the stars and the moon. I could have watched it for hours, had I not hated the skeeters and gotten creepy vibes after half an hour. Still, when I think of the first trip, I think of that night without fail. I think Brandon also fell off the bunk that time.
This trip has become a huge part of our adult life, and it started right after we graduated. Everyone has rituals that sets them apart from the world, and this one is ours. One weekend a year to just go do things that we can't do in the cities - shoot guns, play paintball, drink ourselves sick and then scarf mounds of amazing food for pennies on the dollar. Last year's trip was great, because we added quite a few more people than we ever had before. This year will be better - Pfeffer is coming out from Cali, and I plan to make sure he remembers why he's one of us.
The main question: can I hold out until friday? We'll see.
Also, I'm considering posting a journal of the life of an office zombie. I'll munch on that one for a while.
