Friday, August 17, 2012

WashJam, Day Two

I woke at 5:30 at dawn. Some bird was making an announcement. It was beautiful, with a pink haze over the field of tents. By 10:30, it was hot. I was sent out into the world to get more ice for our pathetic coolers. So I schlepped garbage and another mom's stuff to the cars. Why wasn't she willing to schlep her own stuff, I wanted to ask. On the way, I met a security guy who seemed concerned I was leaving. Schlepping, I said, and getting ice. I said I didn't want to leave. He said he'd already left camp twice so far. Dehydration victims needed to go to the hospital.

"Were they okay?" I asked. Just then, a car drove up.
"No," he said before he got distracted by an arriving car. Don't you hate when you don't get the whole story?

So I finished schlepping and found the convenience store he'd told me
about. The people there were so nice, I felt bad about jamming a half a bag of garbage into their can. I momentarily forgot about schlepping and stood with the cooler door open, thinking about what I'd get myself. Then somehow, I forgot about my lime Perrier and started thinking that if I brought cold junk drinks, I could get some reluctant drinkers more hydrated. Half way back to the camp, I wondered what I was thinking. I'd forgotten about the schlepping. So, I loaded two bags of ice and three lemonades into my backpack. Then I loaded two nice grocery bags as evenly as I could with the other bag of ice, ten more bottles of lemonade and two bags of flaming Cheetos. It was a portage that couldn't be beat. I might have felt more loaded back when I could carry my ABS canoe. Maybe.

But when I arrived back at camp, I was lauded for my wonderful schlepping.

"Sweet," was the best compliment I got.

You know, we hung around camp all afternoon, beating the heat with wet bandanas, spray bottles, and lemonade.

It's fun to watch the boys cook. They forgot the chicken for their dinner last night. The didn't bring cooking oil to make pancakes. They cooked the bacon, but forgot that they needed extra for lunch BLTs and threw the extra out. Really? Then, they bought a bunch of candy and cooked it down in a stew made out of Tang. Oh man, that stuff smelled like Grandma making jelly. So basically, they ate crap.

So now, we're waiting for the talent show to start. It should be good. Mt Rainier is pink in the evening light. It's finally cool enough to relax.

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The kid doing hip hop was amazing. I hope he wins. We had to text our votes. If you want to vote for him, just text Scout3 to 68398. He was just eleven. Plus, he was funny. isn't that a good reason?

I'm in my little bed now. The wind is blowing and I have on all my layers except my hat. I'm snuggled in. I'm wearing earplugs, and the stars are waiting.

Thank you for listening, jb

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