Driving out of the city
\nbeyond the sprawl
\nto small towns
\npast isolated cabins in the woods
\nonward and upward to the pass.
\nThe heart races as we dangerously lean back for groupies
\non a stone ledge
\non the side of the road
\nover a cold-water ravine a long, long way down.
\nAngry truckers honk their horns at strange looking city-folk
\nwalking, single file along a narrow shoulder
\n\u201cdon\u2019t they know
\nthese roads
\nare for serious business.\u201d
\nUp and over then partway down
\nthe forests have a more ordered feel
\nponderosa pines, bitterbrush and red dirt replace fir trees, ferns and moss
\nthe air smells less like water, decay and new life
\nand more like a dusty ranch road in late July
\nthe buzzing of horseflies
\nhours \u2018til dusk.<\/p>\n
No bars
\nout of range
\nand onward to camp
\npitching tents on flat earth dry pine needles, littered with cones
\nperilous logs laid across slow flowing streams
\njalape\u00c3\u00b1o chips
\nwasp attacks
\nbut first, Whistling Jack\u2019s whistling pay phone scam.<\/p>\n
Hours later
\nwith much stirred up dust
\nand the sound of 90s riot girl punk
\narrives Dan
\nto much jubilation.
\nBBQ badassery ensues.
\nWhen parts are missing you improvise
\nbut what with hot exploding rocks
\nand burgers the color of coated tongue, I don\u2019t know gray
\nsometimes it\u2019s wise to simply drive away
\n70 miles down a windy road
\ninto the night
\nonward
\nto Fred Meyer in Yakima town
\nin the middle of gang-season
\nfor supplies.
\nPouring into Sherri\u2019s on filthy hobbit feet
\nwith the salty sweet taste of fries and pies watering my mouth
\nno trout.
\nLater, the dark woods loom
\nwatching us like saucer eyed bears
\nyet we persevere.
\nQueers in the woods.<\/p>\n
An even rain
\ntaps out gray percussive tent membrane
\non the coldest morning
\nof the coldest day
\nof the hottest summer in history.
\nWaking up to the body heat of sleeping friends
\ncold outhouse runs
\nthe sound of bacon and pancakes
\npaper plates
\npassing biker gangs
\nand slow games of rummy 500.
\nTime passes to the rhythm of braided hair
\nbreakfast, lunch, dinner
\nshivering
\nparty tents
\npresidents and assholes
\nTaboo
\nand long walks down to the river.
\nNight comes too soon.<\/p>\n
Awake again surrounded by sleeping friends
\nreading to a slowly rising sun
\n\u2013three witches
\nchildhood friends
\nnow in their seventies
\nhaunted by memories
\nof horrors best left buried
\nreunite one last time.
\nThey give feast to the solstice
\ndrinking and eating and dancing
\ncelebrating and lamenting
\nwhat it means to be old\u2013
\nI could get used to this.<\/p>\n
Riding home
\nup into the storm
\nyou can learn a lot about someone by the music that they love
\nlistening
\nlooking out the window
\nwatching the pines pass by.<\/p>\n
The things you learn along the way:
\nhow to pitch a tent
\nhow to keep drinks cool without a cooler
\nthe taste of safety
\nthe treachery of payphones
\nthe important, under-appreciated role of emotional support snakes
\nlife takes place on the ground
\nin the space between sleeping bags.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Driving out of the city beyond the sprawl to small towns past isolated cabins in the woods onward and upward to the pass. The heart races as we dangerously lean back for groupies on a stone ledge on the side of the road over a cold-water ravine a long, long way down. Angry truckers honk […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/freaksoftechnology.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/freaksoftechnology.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/freaksoftechnology.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freaksoftechnology.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freaksoftechnology.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=168"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/freaksoftechnology.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":182,"href":"https:\/\/freaksoftechnology.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168\/revisions\/182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/freaksoftechnology.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freaksoftechnology.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freaksoftechnology.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}