The Old Man And The Lake
Wow - it's been a while since the last blog! With so many other writing tasks, the blog just got put on the old back burner. Plus, I've had the good forutne of getting to do lots of travel this summer, both for business and pleasure - many times for both. As a matter of fact, I'm sitting in an airport right now waiting to board a flight on Southwest Festival Seating Airlines. (Hey - they have some great routes!)
We just spent a fantastic long weekend in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire - absolutely one of the most gorgeous spots in the world - we were just in Tuscany a few weeks ago, and as amazing as that area is, for pure natural beauty it's got nothing on Lake Winapasaukee.
We were up here visiting our son who has spent the last nine summers in New Hampshire, and our college-bound daughter decided to take some time off from her summer of sleeping late and relaxing to join us on the trip. So anyway, we were having a great time hanging out in The Granite State (even though the "Live Free Or Die" license plates were starting to bother me a little bit - it sounds more like a threat than a motto) when one evening late at night I was kind of restless and decided to take a walk on one of the lake paths.
Now New England, once you get a certain amount of miles outside of Boston, is still filled with some crusty old strange characters, and as I was walking along minding my own business, one suddenly appeared in front of me. (It's weird how when you are away from home you get a different view of personal safety. Personally, I think nothing of wandering around a strange town anyhwhere in the world at any hour of the night, but would never dream of doing that in my hometown of Baltimore. Actually, maybe that feeling is justified.)
So anyway, this guy,who looks like he was playing a survivalist on a bad made-for-TV movie, stands in front of me and gently grabs my arm.
"Hey buddy - how you doing?," he asked in a low raspy voice.
I mumbled something and started to walk away.
"Hey - where you going? I wanted to invite you to a party tonight in my cabin. It's starting in just a few minutes."
Well, I didn't have much interest in attending, but figured at this point my best bet was to play along and then politely decline.
"What kind of party?" I asked. Actually, I was a bit curious to see what kind of get together this strange creature was planning.
"Well," he said, "I just want to warn you, it might get a little crazy."
"Really? How so?," I asked.
"Well, there's gonna be some dancing."
That sounded okay to me.
He continued. "There might be a little drinking."
Okay - so far it didn't sound much different than many parties I have attended.
"There might be some cussing!"
I expected no less at this point.
"...and I gotta warn you, there might be some fighting."
Well, fighting is definitely not my thing, and I think he saw the expression on my face change to one of worry. As if to get me interested again, he added
"And there definitely is gonna be some sexin'! Matter of fact, party's just about to start!"
Thinking of a way to politely bow out, I asked, "So how many people are you expecting at this party?"
A little drool came down his lip, and he growled - "Buddy - it's just gonna be YOU AND ME!!"
I broke away, ran like hell, and promised not to wander around alone at night anymore!
We just spent a fantastic long weekend in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire - absolutely one of the most gorgeous spots in the world - we were just in Tuscany a few weeks ago, and as amazing as that area is, for pure natural beauty it's got nothing on Lake Winapasaukee.
We were up here visiting our son who has spent the last nine summers in New Hampshire, and our college-bound daughter decided to take some time off from her summer of sleeping late and relaxing to join us on the trip. So anyway, we were having a great time hanging out in The Granite State (even though the "Live Free Or Die" license plates were starting to bother me a little bit - it sounds more like a threat than a motto) when one evening late at night I was kind of restless and decided to take a walk on one of the lake paths.
Now New England, once you get a certain amount of miles outside of Boston, is still filled with some crusty old strange characters, and as I was walking along minding my own business, one suddenly appeared in front of me. (It's weird how when you are away from home you get a different view of personal safety. Personally, I think nothing of wandering around a strange town anyhwhere in the world at any hour of the night, but would never dream of doing that in my hometown of Baltimore. Actually, maybe that feeling is justified.)
So anyway, this guy,who looks like he was playing a survivalist on a bad made-for-TV movie, stands in front of me and gently grabs my arm.
"Hey buddy - how you doing?," he asked in a low raspy voice.
I mumbled something and started to walk away.
"Hey - where you going? I wanted to invite you to a party tonight in my cabin. It's starting in just a few minutes."
Well, I didn't have much interest in attending, but figured at this point my best bet was to play along and then politely decline.
"What kind of party?" I asked. Actually, I was a bit curious to see what kind of get together this strange creature was planning.
"Well," he said, "I just want to warn you, it might get a little crazy."
"Really? How so?," I asked.
"Well, there's gonna be some dancing."
That sounded okay to me.
He continued. "There might be a little drinking."
Okay - so far it didn't sound much different than many parties I have attended.
"There might be some cussing!"
I expected no less at this point.
"...and I gotta warn you, there might be some fighting."
Well, fighting is definitely not my thing, and I think he saw the expression on my face change to one of worry. As if to get me interested again, he added
"And there definitely is gonna be some sexin'! Matter of fact, party's just about to start!"
Thinking of a way to politely bow out, I asked, "So how many people are you expecting at this party?"
A little drool came down his lip, and he growled - "Buddy - it's just gonna be YOU AND ME!!"
I broke away, ran like hell, and promised not to wander around alone at night anymore!
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