Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Part hippie

If I'm as bored as this with the whole fucking stupid baby stupid fucking thing, I can only imagine how anyone who reads this is. I'm really going to try keeping that shit to a minimum until there's something interesting to say, like for instance if I were to actually, you know, GET PREGNANT. Fuck.

Work is just stupid too, so no talking about that either.

We were making more jokes about forming a compound/bunker the other day (because we're hysterical like that) and then I remembered something. We'd both be terrible in a place like that. Not only does he start to break out in the cold sweats if he doesn't have his daily dose of Fox News or the equivalent, but I get pretty grumpy away from the interwebs after a short time. Embarrassing but true. And that's only really a small part of it.

My parents bought an RV when I was nine and we spent many fun summers traveling around the country and also spending a couple of whole summers in New York. My parents always joked about how us kids didn't know from "roughing it" and that if we were ever forced to camp in an actual tent, we'd be horrified. Well, they weren't entirely right, but fairly close. We spent a fun weekend tent camping in the North Carolina mountains one beautiful Fall and I also spent three wet days in a tent at the Woodstock reunion in 1994 that ranks up there in the top five vacations of my life. But I will say I can only handle a tent if the weather is nice and chilly. The one time we tried camping in North Florida one Memorial Day weekend is a nightmare I've been mostly successful at blocking out completely. The heat. The bugs. The skin sticking together -(Zexy)- Hell no; you can HAVE that shit.

I like TV too. There, I said it. Our motorhome had a little black & white antenna'd thing that was mostly a pain in the ass and we rarely used it. But it made us feel good just knowing it was there.

Then this one Summer, my parents sent us to stay with our hippie aunt and uncle for a few weeks. I laugh now knowing it was actually only two weeks or so when it seemed like a lifetime then. These people lived in a commune-ish place in WAAAY upstate New York, like close to Canada, and they lived pretty much isolated from civilization on top of a mountain or some shit. My aunt's house wasn't, but their next door neighbors had one of those built-into-the-ground houses, which we thought was cool as hell at the time because we could walk on the "roof," which was actually just part of the "yard." Those people had a little blond hippie kid who they encouraged to call them by their first names - I wonder what kind of an addict he is today.

What we weren't fond of was the fact my aunt's house had no electricity or running water (by choice - hippies, remember) so that while we sort of enjoyed being hosed off outside for our showers, we did NOT enjoy the sun going down at 9:00 and them not allowing us to use the Coleman lanterns too much for fear of wasting the oil. Dude, if I can't read at night, even back in the day, I start to get panicky and weird. And since bedtime was strictly enforced to us all during the school year, Summer vacation was NOT when I wanted to go to bed at 9:00, damn it.

And do not EVER try to pass carob off as chocolate to me, ever, ever again. Same goes for rice cakes as a substitute for bread, bagels, English muffins or what have you. Admittedly Sister and I did have a fun time there, especially amongst ourselves, mostly by making fun of everyone around us and also amusing ourselves for hours every day singing Eddie Rabbit while swinging endlessly on the miraculously provided swing set. I actually don't recall ever really being bored while we were there, which is really crazy. They took us to a couple of really cool concerts-in-the-park things and also to see Raiders of the Lost Ark, which scared the living shit out of us on the big screen, and I am G-D OLD.

Fond memories of the Summer of '81. But I really do greatly enjoy lights and reading at night and water and my dvr, I really do.

Happy Cinco de Mayo - have a big fat Margarita for me, ya hear?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Heh. Two years ago we were celebrating CdeM at an IRISH bar in MAINE, which patrons were wearing sombraros and fake mustaches and had NO IDEA why May 5th was important to the Mexicans. Hysterical, and highly recommmended.

Hippie relations are a REQUIREMENT to a well-rounded outlook on life. I'm about as well-rounded as a chick can get, myself.

Shari Sherman said...

Yes, camping in Florida is a joke. Unless you like getting eaten alive by bugs, both the crawling variety and the flying variety, watching out for snakes, and the friggin' heat. There is probably a 2-week period of time where it could be semi-enjoyable, but it is really worth it? NO. The only time I enjoyed camping was when we (and this is a different we that the Tim and I WE) went with a very experienced camping couple who made it somewhat "luxurious." Like marinated shark cooked in foil packets over the fire type luxurious (am I spelling that wrong?) I would still camp on the beach though. Waking up to sunrise on the beach is ALWAYS worth it.

And talk about being OLD. Every time we watch IDOL, and Tim reminds me that they don't actually "know" the songs. Most of them are just learning the songs for the first time, it blows me away. But then I remember all the great music, shows, movies that we've grown up with and am thankful that we were part of a time when music was really REAL and lip-synching was not only uncool, it got you blacklisted, and no one would ever think of going on Saturday Night Live and lip-synching. It's called LIVE for a reason, you mothers.

Sorry to writing so much, I should jump over to my blog and update the damn thing. But it's so much fun to visit you!

Anonymous said...

My wife said she wanted to go "camping". I explained real "CAMPING"...and she voted for an cabin with electricity and a heat pump. I would not go camping with her.

LL Cool Joe said...

I've done my share of camping when I was young and stupid. Actually there is something appealing about getting back to basics. That appeal lasts for about 2 hours.

I'm not bored reading about your baby making posts. The only time I get bored with a blog is when I can tell it's not being written from the heart anymore.

Yours isn't like that. :)

Anonymous said...

oh man, i hear ya on the necessary comforts...
i like to bathe. i like to not wake up with my back bleeding from rocks stabbing through my sleeping bag all night. i like my internet. i DEAMAND that i be able to warm up or cool down to a comfortable temperature. as i feel like it.

i am not a fun person in the woods overnight unless it's 75 degrees the entire time, i have a futon pad and a clean, warm lake to swim in in the morning. these are my requirements.

(and i like picturing a little-you making fun of the hippies. even though my parents are those same exact people :)
xo