Monday, March 14, 2005

Kickstarting the Fun Machine

Well, Mt. Hood Meadows is officially closed and the ocean has already started calling. My friends and I went surfing this weekend and then Marshall and I had to report for what was ostensibly our last day at the mountain. Our boss came in shortly after our first lineup and wrote that we were “suspending operations until further notice.” Which is shorthand for “we’re closed until we get a giant, highly unlikely dump of snow that must total three feet or more. Or until next November, when we will hopefully start a better, longer, more normal season that lasts more than two months."

Marshall and I also decided to kickstart the fun machine on Friday, which meant going to a BBQ at Beastie’s house followed by a rather competitive several rounds of shuffleboard and PBR at the Yukon down the street. She, Indie Rocker and I just kept trading off buying rounds and playing games until Roche showed up with our new, fabulous friend Whitty, who is a teacher and an awesome chica to boot. We started playing boys vs. girls right after Indie Rocker and I took over the jukebox. After several hours of this, Whitty decided that she’d had enough fun for the evening and the rest of us were just sober enough to stumble back to Marshall’s house and crash in little heaps. Fortunately for us, Sassy had also enjoyed too many tasty beverages that night and didn’t hear us loudly invade her house.

After three or four hours of sleep, Roche woke us all up by declaring that he desperately needed breakfast or was going to inflict pain on someone. Rather than test that theory, we all sort of stumbled around and got ready to go. I managed to stick a contact lens full of hydrogen peroxide directly in my eye, necessitating much swearing, rinsing and tears before getting it back in using copious amounts of saline. Owie.

Breakfast was quite tasty and I am quite regretting giving up coffee for Lent. Really, Easter cannot get here any faster. After eating, we all had the strength to go retrieve our cars from Beastie’s house and go home to get ready for surfing. Marshall, Indie Rocker and Strong Draught all met at my house so that we could pile into Indie Rocker’s Suburban and head out to the coast. Thank God he drove, because I don’t think any of the rest of us, save for Strong Draught, could have stayed awake!

Surfing went great, as always. Marshall and I taught Strong Draught, who is a natural. It’s actually nauseating how much of a natural he is. I kid you not, the kid stood up and rode in his third wave. I’ve never seen anybody pick up surfing as fast as he did. Why is everyone that Marshall and I teach better than we are? Why?

We decided to do dinner at the Green Room after surfing since we ran into a 40 minute wait at Cornelius Pass. After that we were all exhausted, so Marshall headed home and Indie Rocker passed out on my couch while Strong Draught and I took turns in the shower. After all that, Indie Rocker and I decided that we were too tired to do anything, so we popped open a bottle of wine and watched “Da Ali G” movie, which was totally braindead and actually really funny.

Sunday was spent helping out at the mountain. Marshall hurt her back on Saturday, so she and I helped out emptying lockers for a few hours and I avoided lessons as best I could so that we could head home early and I could get something accomplished before getting together with my fellow lacrosse coaches for some planning.

I am both looking forward to practice tonight and dreading is as we have 51 12-13 year olds with varying levels of lacrosse ability and it should be an adventure.

Quote of the Day: "And I'm sucked in by the wonder and I'm fucked up by the lies/And I dig a hole to lie in and I build some wings to fly/And I think that I could love you 'cause you know how to be free/I want you to come walk this world with me./With the light in our eyes it's hard to see/Holding on and on 'til we believe/With the light in our eyes it's hard to see/I'm not touched but I'm aching to be./I want you to come/Walk this world with me." Walk This World, Heather Nova

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

WHAT!!!

My god, you posted this a few months too early! Are you kidding me?! Isn't the water a wee bit cold? And don't tell me those wetsuits help you any.

Um, I guess I should get an account. In case you didn't know, this is from you anti-wetsuit/only-surfs-in-minimal-material friend.