Wasn't that a Party?

Now that we have all arrived safe the hours of navigating a bike throught the dark and the rain begin to catch up with us. Some crawl right into the tents and crash, others, like me, can't sleep till it's dark again because adrenelin and sunlight have given us a second wind.

After all the rain, the sun was now out full blast and the sleepers discovered a damp tent and high noon make a sauna of the tents. A few of them slept but most got back up, bleary eyed and comatose. The niece and NIL were really whipped, as were the nephew and NieceIL. Why? Because when I called around 9 pm they were not only not sleeping but said they were too excited to sleep. They were all up all day Friday and now it was early afternoon Saturday.

The mate told the neice to grab our extra tarp and pull it under the shade then toss the sleeping bags on it. Worked like a charm. She and her man were crashed in about 20 minutes. A few of the others also stretched out in the shade by the simple expedient of moving their tents.

I hauled our offerings to the cabin, now that I was rested up some. We brought up coffee, foam plates, plastic utensils, pancake mix and syrup to leave at the cabin. Others bring paper products, canned goods or other handy things to have around the cabin. These are a courtesy to our hosts for their kindness in sharing their lovely get away with us. That and we almost always wipe them out of standard items. There can be quite a horde of us using the restroom, shower and sinks for our daily routines. It's only considerate to replace what we use.

Once the nappers and the wide awake bunch were arranged comfortably and the kids had started a game of washers, the prep for the big meal started. There were about 30 of us there plus kids and dogs. It's quite a crowd to feed! The host and hosstess, M and Ma, brought out the corn to be shucked and the grease to be heated in the big fryer. A big bag of potatoes and a french fry cutter plopped on the table next. Everyone leant a hand it shucking, peeling and cutting food while the fryer heated up.

Now lots of fresh air and sunshine with exercise seems to call for a beer to many in our bunch. There was a lot of beverage making the rounds. There is a big, plastic container for tossing the cans into and it was filling up fast.

One of the men I didn't know, we will call him Wild Hairy Male, had taken on keeping the fire up. Really UP! He got intensly into it. One of the other men, we'll call him Happy Helper, had toted what appeared to be a huge set of bolt cutters with him. He had used them to nip the branches off the birch we were using for fire wood to make kindling to get it started and left them leaned up by the big logs for later.

Now Ma and I were headed back to the cabin for condiments for dinner. We had our backs to the fire pit. Wild Hairy Man called after her, "Can I take the bottom branches off this pine?"

She never turned around. It was her property. She thought he meant the pine south of the fire pit and just shouted back over her shoulder, "I don't care!" and we went on into the cabin where we assembled butter, salt, pepper and such to carry out.

We got our loads stacked and balanced then walked out the door and there is the Wild Hairy Man talking to the neighbor lady and the pine tree in HER yard is missing bottom braches about half way around and two feet up.

Ma and I couldn't hear what was being said, so she must not have been too upset. We kept right on walking to the table to put our loads down and most carefully didn't turn around til we heard Wild Hairy Man putting more wood on the fire.

He was rattling on to anyone who would listen that Ma told him he could, and it was good for the tree to bottom it out and the branches would drape prettier next year. He didn't know it wasn't on their property and didn't mean to annoy the neighbors. Over and over again, to anyone who looked at him, he defended himself.

Ma never bothered to try and explain what tree she meant he could cut. He had too many beers in him and too much freaked out guilt from being "my good friend, Buddy, chopping down my neighbor's tree" to believe it was a communication error. Some of the guys really ragged on him for a while but he was getting huffy and I finally kicked the last ribber in the toe and gave him the "cut it out or die" sign, finger across throat. Wild Hairy Man was getting a little TOO defensive and I was afraid he would go off on someone.

Everything calmed down and the jokes moved to other topics but this all helped to keep us entertained until dinner was ready.

Everything was excellent! Someone brought baked beans and it was an official cook out. With the appetites sharpened by fresh air and sunshine we proceeded to decimate the food supplied. I love fresh corn on the cob! This year's new dish, french fries, cooked to a delicate tan in the fryer, were a big hit with the kids and everyone else. With the niece's cookies for desert the meal was grand.

Clean up was easy as we try to burn everything to avoid the local wild life. There are bears here but the coons are more common trouble along with the possoms. What can't be burned is bagged and canned and stashed away to be hauled south for disposal at home. Everyone pitches in and it doesn't take long.

With coffee and beverages around the fire afterwards the next division starts pulling away from the main body. The Riders. These are the fools that rode 400 miles, stretched, ate, and are now ready to put their butts back in the seat to scoot around the great roads in the U.P... or just go to town for ice cream or the Blueberry Festival. So about half of us ride off down the road and half of us divide, again, into sleepers and wakers and then into fire watchers or beach walkers.

I stayed by the fire and watched the sun setting over the lake, listened to my friends talk, read my book a little, wandered over and got the camera to snap a shot of the sleeping niece and NIL, petted the two dogs in the group, met the neighbor dog when he came to join them and just relaxed in general. The mate was beside me or over yacking with M and the guys, telling his jokes and male bonding and still keeping one eye on me so I didn't fall asleep sitting up and plop over into the fire.

Near dark the sleepers woke, the beach walkers returned, the bikers pulled back in and we all turned into fire watchers and sipped our favorite poisons. Then the moon rose over the lake. It was a deep pumpkin orange. There was just the top stem area at first and then it seemed to levitate over the horizon, POOF! it was up! We all went "ooooooooo", just like at the fireworks displays, and meant it. News, gossip, jokes and tall tales were told as we all caught up with what had been going on since last year. For some of us this is the only time we get to sit and visit.

Kids and dogs tottered off to bed first followed by those that didn't nap on Friday and then by those of us who had enough fun. The hard core drinkers and partier's lasted another hour or so. The fire was banked, after a fashion, for morning. It can be chilly up here even in August and a nice fire to roast your toes at in the morning it lovely comfort.

I woke up, I would guess about two-ish. The moon was so full and bright that the mate thought I turned my flashlight on him when I had only unzipped the top of the tent door. I wandered out to the ladies bushes and then over to kick the fire up a little. I sat, alone, in the quiet, having a smoke when a large owl drifted through about 20 feet up and in front of me. The moonlight glittered on the tips of his wings. He made not a sound but the waves whispered to him in greeting as he coasted past us. I wished him a good hunt and went back to bed.

Wasn't that a Party?