I wonder how it never was

Today is the annual Jacksonville Bar-to-Bar Golf Classic. Honestly, it's a shit show, an excuse to day drink for most (starting at 11:00 am) held at the bars in downtown Jacksonville. I haven't actually played the Bar-to-Bar in a couple of years, trying to avoid the drama of herding around a "team" of drunk fools, but i try not to miss seeing old friends gathered together in our home town, a rare occasion these days. So, I met some of these fine folks out this afternoon, ready to enjoy their company. It was good, as it always is, because the people I call friends are awesome.

I'm home now at a decent hour, and their fellowship has inspired me to write a bit.

I'm having a beer and listening to some music. Right now it's Peter Bjorn & John - "Young Folks."

Six inches of snow fell last night, the most we've had at once so far this year. As much as I'm ready for warmer weather, there is something undeniably lovely about a heavy blanket of fresh snow. Everything is brighter and so.....quiet.

It's been over half a year since i wrote last. Here's what's been going on since then:

Andriy & I traveled to Ukraine last May, and we spent, what was for me, the most valuable two weeks I've ever had there. We spent the entire time with his parents, sister and niece & nephew at his parents' house. This trip almost didn't happen, since Ukraine has been in a state of uncertainty since the protests on Maidan. We almost didn't go....but how do you know if it will get better or worse?

In the end, we had zero problems travelling and had such a wonderful time just enjoying summer in Ukraine. And on our way home, we spent a day in Warsaw, Poland, because why not? Lovely city. Go see it.

At the moment, Hall & Oates, "Rich Girl" is playing (Spotify radio, btw, based on my summertime playlist, follow me there.)

Shortly after this trip, we attended the annual McLaughlin Family Reunion. Talking about awesome people...maybe they are why I enjoy being around people so much? I'm so lucky to come from two of the GREATEST FAMILIES: The Scott's and the McLaughlin's. 

We replaced the roof on our house, thanks to the help from our family and friends, mainly my uncle Leo Anslyn. If you live in the greater Jacksonville area, consider Anslyn Home Improvement (from Winchester) for your next home project. Seriously, this guy is such a professional and sooo talented. 

And "Born on the Bayou" just came on by CCR. Seriously, does John Fogerty's voice make anyone else just crave summer and baseball?

I spent some time in August with my mom and two sisters in Missouri wine country. That was lovely. Mainly because they're lovely. This was the first "girl trip" we've all taken together, I think. We have to do that again.

Andriy and I traveled back to Indiana in August for a reunion camping trip with our very good friend Jeremy Doughty. We both met Jdo while he was a fellow Peace Corps volunteer in Ukraine and we've been best friends since. We spend time with him every year for a camping trip. This was our second year meeting him at Shades State Park in Indiana, since he's attending Bowling Green State University in Ohio for his doctorate. We explored many of Turkey Run's canyons and riverside trails. Spending time with Jdo is always relaxing...we just get each other. Maybe this is an RPCV thing? We are of such a similar mind...I wish we lived nearer to each other!

Some friends of ours started playing Dungeons & Dragons and invited Andriy and I to join. Neither of us had ever played before, but we agreed to give it a try...and we both really love it. We try and meet monthly, at least, with Denver, Joe O'Neal, Joe Sculley & whoever else might be around and it's been such a delightful way to spend time with friends, just nerding out. I never thought D&D would be part of my life, but now I wonder how it never was.

Marvin Gaye, "Let's Get It On." Seriously, if you don't understand soul, you've never heard Marvin Gaye.

Speaking of listening to things: I probably listen to more podcasts than I do music now. That's kinda sad, only because that means I listen to less music. HOWEVER, I enjoy my podcasts so much. Normally, that's what I'm listening to if I'm getting ready in the morning or driving to or from work. On my podcast feed now: All Songs Considered (great hosts, great music,) The Bugle (with John Oliver!) Radiolab, This American Life, (the last two great NPR productions) Sound Opinions (Chicago area music podcast, i'm new to it, but I like it so far,) Serial ( just because,) Cognitive Dissonance (another Chicago area podcast, this one geared to skeptics, very funny,) and The Nerdist (my new favorite thing.) Stuff You Should Know was my intro podcast, and I still love it. 

On the music side...I did, however, get a record player for Christmas. Listening to vinyl totally changes the way you listen to music. Do you ever just sit and listen, not just to music, but to a whole album from start to finish? Pour yourself a nice glass of wine, whiskey or tea and give a listen to your favorite artist's best album. It might change your life.

So, I keep listening to things, I keep going places and seeing stuff, and I keep eating stuff too. Life keeps happening. I hope you're enjoying yours. I'll write more soon. 

We built Tent City.

First camping trip of the year? Check.
April 19th found us at Sangchris Lake State Park, on the point with our tents and chairs and the magic V. Pete was kind enough to get there early to save our sweet spots overlooking the lake, although with the impending cold weather, we weren't too worried about them being taken from us. By the time Andriy, Witherbee and I showed up, he had pretty much set up camp. We assembled our tent and the spare tent we brought to share, cracked a beer and settled in. Before long, Ashleigh and Sculley arrived and our first night's crew was complete.

That first evening was cold and windy, but sooo wonderful. I have sat around countless campfires with these wonderful people and I never get tired of it. There are always refreshments to keep us happy/relaxed, there's usually a guitar with someone to play it and we just sit around like happy hippies, enjoying the outdoors, the fire and the company.
When we were younger, this was a familiar scene. When the weather turned nice, inevitably someone would bring up having a campfire at the lake, they would spread the word and we'd all meet up. It started out at South Rock Point on Lake Jacksonville, a very remote spot that was almost never occupied. I'm sure we weren't supposed to be out there, but no one ever stopped us.
South Rock Point got to the point where it was so overgrown that we couldn't get back there anymore. The city was either ignoring it, or they intentionally let it grow wild to keep us out. That didn't really stop us from campfire time...we just found a new spot. There are great memories there too, but nothing ever quite compared to South Rock Point.
Sorry about the digression...back to April 19th.

Once the sun set, it really got cold. In fact, temps were near freezing. But, the wind started to die down, we enjoyed Pete's homemade chili, brats, refreshments, a nice hot campfire and soon we weren't feeling the cold. Happy times.

 

Chukins were in charge of breakfast the next morning, and desperately in need of coffee for hangover headaches, so we were up early. The Saturday crew slowly started to filter in. Margie & Dennis arrived first, followed later by Joe O'Neal. Denver was to arrive that evening after work (poor schmuck.) We had big plans for hiking, badminton, baseball and washers. The group decided to split up - hikers in one direction, game players in another.

 

The hiking crew set off for the trail. It was a really nice day - some sun, not too cool, fresh spring green starting to show in places.  We came across, to no surprise, lots of flooding over the trail. Thankfully, we were able to blaze our own trails around the floodwaters and find the path on the other side.

We were feeling confident we would be able to continue to the end of the trail, since much of it was high above water and we were fortunate to find paths around the low wet spots. That is, until, we came across this place:

There didn't seem to be any way around it and the water looked deep enough to be unpleasant. Dennis braved out on the log, hoping he could find a shallow enough spot to jump. Unfortunately, one step too far and his boot sunk in the water. Ashleigh and Margie, being the bold adventurers they are, were convinced we could take a nearby fallen tree, lay it across the water and walk across it. That sounded like famous last words to me, and I'm a baby and didn't want wet feet, so I turned around and started backtracking. The rest of the group followed and thankfully we found our way back to the trailhead. A certain time of day was approaching and we had business to attend to.

We met up with the rest of the crew back at camp to learn that they had enjoyed some home run derby and washers. Sculley cooked us some burgers while some of us relaxed by the fire and the rest went to play badminton. 

Finally, Denver arrived, our camping party of 10 was complete, and our Saturday evening continued into some unknown late hour. 

All in all, it was a successful inaugural camping trip for 2013. Hopefully it won't be the last. Although, next time, let's hope the bottle of Goldschlager isn't polished off so early.