TheBanyanTree: Yee Haw! Hoedown! (Part 1)

[Sponge Bob Walk Pants]

Work getting you down?
Need to get out of the shirt and tie and into a tie-dye and jeans? 
(Nevermind that I ended up wearing my work clothes all day Saturday--that 
makes for a great intro!)
Want to get away from it all, including you car keys?

Well, Sheri and Gary have just the place for you! It's the Hoedown, 2003 
edition, and if you missed it, well, try really really hard NOT to miss it 
next year!

I almost didn't make it myself this year, and now that I've come back, I'm 
so very glad I was able to find a way to get there. Liz, the love of my 
life, was kind enough to be okay with me going by myself, since she had to 
work on Saturday. I owe her a clean bathroom, but it was well worth it!

Driving up was a pleasant, if long, experience. I opted to go the 76 to 220 
to 15 route, giving me a longer drive but no traffic jams. It was a real 
trip down memory lane for me, as I placed tapes I hadn't used for a few 
years (Snoopy the Musical!) and played an entire "Basketcase Show" from my 
days as a DJ at Penn State. I thought a lot about the times I had as a 
student up there--the things I did and wish I hadn't along with the things 
I didn't do that seem like foolish mistakes now. Overall, though, things 
have worked out okay for me, even if I can't help but wonder "what if...?" 
here and there.

I'd placed their farm closer to Bradford rather than Corning, and I ended 
up telling them I'd get there by 8:30PM. Instead, it was more like 10:30PM. 
Sheri says this is just because I drive too slow. :)

Maria was the first to great me, and since she didn't run screaming off in 
the other direction, I figured I was at the right farm and would be allowed 
to stay the whole weekend. I pulled in next to the other cars and was 
immediately distracted by the nighttime view.

"Oooh! Stars!"
followed almost immediately by
"Oooh! My keys!"

Yes folks--I'd left 'em in the car and locked it up like a good city boy. Oops!

I called Liz and told her what was up. She was very cool about it, and told 
me not to worry about it all weekend, as she was afraid I might have done. 
Given differing circumstances, I might have, too, but I wasn't given time 
as I got introduced to Sheri, Jamie, the "bug" (aka Jessica), and Darrell. 
I was given a nifty bandanna, invited to sit down, and we started chatting 
and making cracks about Mr. Ana-Retentive leaving his keys in the car.

Thanks, guys, you made that situation a lot better for me! :)

The Bug and I hit it off right away, and she reminded me very much of 
Crystal, the daughter of a girl I used to date. Same blonde hair, same 
energy, same smart-as-a-whipness that I hope our kid, if we ever have one, 
will be like. She's a very special kid, and I'm sure parents and 
grandparents are very proud.

Key jokes can only go so far, however, and luckily Mirella and her daughter 
Rosanna showed up about half an hour later. Rosanna, a city girl all her 
life, had a bit of trouble adjusting to the farm. She was especially afraid 
of the idea of wild animals. I will admit to being amused, and even though 
I did crack a joke or two about it, it did put my personal situation in 
stark relief and reminded me that I'm not quite as much the City Boy as I 
pretend to be. By the end of the weekend, Rosanna had really gotten the 
hang of the country, and I hope she gets to visit it again soon. She's a 
very good young woman with a good head on her shoulders and a strong will. 
I'm sure she'll go far in life.

Finally, it was time to go up the hill to join the gang. This was easy for 
me---I was travelling very light. Locking all your stuff in the car will do 
that for you. Perhaps because I was the only guy at the time or perhaps it 
was because they wanted to make me feel better, I got to ride in the back 
of the pickup truck on the ride up, adjusting to something I'd never done 
before while making sure nothing fell out the back. Good fun, that. I took 
every opportunity to do it over the course of the weekend.

When we arrived, I was introduced to Mike, Randy (Maria's husband), Carla, 
and April. Mike gave me a place to lay my head that wasn't out with the 
coyotes, for which I am deeply appreciative. He was just appreciative I 
didn't snore. Not having camped for well over a decade, I adjusted much 
better than I thought I would. I slept straight through till morning, but 
that wasn't until after we'd all gathered around the campfire and talked 
about stuff. I felt immediately comfortable with everyone, and it was great 
to be out, in the dark, telling stories and passing along the jug of 
warmth. Sheri, Mike, and I stayed up a bit later than most, talking about 
how the farms are disappearing one by one everywhere and the difficulties 
of hunting in PA. I'm not sure it's comforting or saddening to know that 
it's happening all over or not. Probably not.

I got up early for me on a Saturday, but later than most folks. Sheri's 
coffee got me going and we headed down to the house on her 4-wheeler to get 
a locksmith for little old me.

Oh. Dear.

I'm afraid that I don't get quite the thrill out of that that most everyone 
else seemed to. All I had was this deep desire NOT TO FALL OFF! I did get 
on again later with Mike and probably cost him a few decibels of his 
hearing in the process.

I got to talk to Darrell a lot when I was waiting for the locksmith. He's 
very devoted to the Bug, and you'd never know he was in fact her step-dad. 
Eventually, the locksmith came and took less than 2 minutes to allow me to 
go home again. Now all I needed was $30.

Oops. Didn't hit a mac.

Sheri and Jamie to the rescue! (Otherwise, he was going to lock the keys 
back in!)

This allowed us to get back to the hill, where a hayride was impending. I 
barely had time to shout, "I HAVE STUFF!" before we were ready to take off 
and tour the local farmland.

(To be continued...)

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Rob McMonigal
twainfan at earthlink.net
http://www.livejournal.com/users/trebro
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"Actually, I just like to *say* smock." -Hobbes
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