Day 24 Willow Bay

Day 24

I spent the morning sitting on a large rock on the edge of the Allegheny Reservoir watching a little red bobber that did nothing more than move with the gentle motion of the wind blown waves. Lily was sleeping in the front seat of the car back at the camp. We both had hoped that we would wake to sunshine, but although the steady rain of yesterday had finally stopped, a heavy layer of clouds kept the sun from making an appearance. The thing is, it is all ok. If we have done nothing else in the first three and a half weeks of the Great Gorean adventure tour, we have settled into a much more Gorean state of mind. When we remember that the Goreans did not have television sets, radios, computers, or even cell phones (heaven forbid), we realize that they had to find ways to pass the time and entertain themselves much the same way as the generations of humans that came before the technological explosion of the last one hundred years. I was passing time taking an occasional glance at the idle bobber, watching v-shaped flights of geese soar over the far shore, and I was entertaining myself by remembering the events of the last three weeks.

We did well scheduling the Hoosier National Forest first.  It was a beautiful campsite. The weather was perfect although, perhaps, a bit warmer than we would have dialed up. Every night, we took a "critter ride" just before sunset. This has now become a tour tradition. It consists of a short drive around the park looking for deer and other wildlife that were just beginning their nightly activities.
We settled nicely into camp routine. I took an 8.8 mile hike one morning and paid for it with a thousand chigger bites on my unprotected ankles. I made up for missing the opening night of the Poplar Bluff Mules High School football game by watching the Forrest Park Rangers beat the Perry Central Commodores, 21-7.

There was an interesting event at that game, by the way. I started the night sitting on the Forrest Park side of the field. They were the visitors and so more seats were available on that side. When the team came out and finished their warm-ups, they began to jump up and down in one of those wild tribal rituals that football teams do to get psyched up for the opening kickoff. As I watched, I found myself thinking that one of the players, #28, a smallish guy on the outside of the circle, had a really nice looking ass. No sooner had the thought flashed through my mind that I uttered a groan and blushed. I tried not to look and turned my attention to the cheerleaders trying to reassure my suddenly threatened manhood that a mere three days of camping had not caused major changes in my orientation. However, I kept feeling a pull to sneak another peak. You know how those tight football pants are? My god, that was one fine looking rear end!  Then, as the players moved to the sideline and took off their helmets to wave them at the kickoff team in another of those pre-game psych rituals, I saw a long mane of blond hair fall out of the helmet of #28. She was, it turns out, a back-up kicker, and a cute little thing as well. My instincts were still intact!!

When the Rangers scored the final touchdown to open up a two touchdown lead late in the game, they sent her in to attempt the point after touchdown kick.  She made it, just barely clearing the crossbar, and the stands, her teammates, and even the coaches broke out into a wild celebration that made it seem they had just won the Super Bowl. I was guessing it was either her first attempt, or the first one she made, but the story behind this, I was unable to learn.  I did get a picture of her with her helmet off and it is posted on one of the tour photo albums.

The Hoosier National Forest had everything you would expect on a five day camping trip. Good fishing, interesting attractions, a swim in a cool water lake, hiking trails, friendly deer that seemed anxious to be seen, late night campfires, and perfect weather. But, it wasn't any of this that really made this the ideal start of the tour. It was the way the de-stressing process that had begun on the road continued to cleanse my mind of years of the accumulated mental baggage of living too quickly and without proper appreciation of what was flowing like a fast moving stream.  Little snags no longer induced frustration and anger. I was growing stronger and more confident. More Gorean. Each morning became an adventure. The passing of each day was a victory of sorts if lily and I ended it, snuggled in the tent, thinking that it had been a good day. We found ways to entertain ourselves. We did have a computer, and we watched a couple of movies. (The Unforgiven and The Shawshank Redemption)  I checked the news and kept up with my fantasy baseball team. Yet, these things were just the spice on the frosting of the day and not the substance or purpose of it.