It started with a wedding in Boston. One of my former junior enginerds was getting married, and he invited a few of the old crew to share the celebration. Rather than just go for the day, i invited Studley along and we decided to make a long weekend of it.
It was one of those amazing weekends spent with a diverse collection of friends. i’ve done it before, and wrote about it here.
We hit the ground Friday morning. Managed to meet up with the lovely Amber for drinks on Friday night, after visiting dead relatives in Methuen. The wedding was in Salem, and we threw it down hard. From there? The plan was to drive to New Hamster Hampshire, and spend a couple of days with one of our SCUBA buddies, Chris.
i’ve written about scuba people before. More about divers in this post. They are a unique set of creatures, and some of my favorite folks on earth are divers. We planned to just hang out, have some beer, and maybe do a little hiking.
As he showed us his house on Sunday afternoon, he unveiled his collection of scale-model excavation equipment. He is a collector, as he works in the industry. When both Studley and i sprouted virtual boners at the sight of all those diggers, he asked the innocent question “Would you guys like to go to work with me and play in the big sandbox?”
Took just about five minutes for us to change clothes, fly out the door, and park ourselves in his car like to puppies headed for the bark park!
THIS was the view when we arrived.
…and the steel angels sang “Hallelujah”
With some basic instructions, and a little training, he turned us loose. An excavator. Day-glo orange, diesel-powered lust on tank treads! Joy of joys! That bucket will hold 18,000 pounds of dirt, gravel, or zombies.
Studley and i played. We dug holes. We moved dirt with bulldozers. We giggled, and smiled. Chris coached and cheered. We were giddy! He spends a lot more time in an office than he does in the sandbox, and welcomed the opportunity to share his favorite form of therapy.
We hooted, hollered, and snorted! Smiled until our faces hurt! As much fun as it was to dig a hole? For me, it was FAR more therapeutic to put the dirt back in… A form of Obsessive Compulsive Pattern Disorder (OCPD). The same thing that makes me bus my own table in a restaurant, stacking plates just so. i needed to put the dirt back where i found it.
First attempt? Both Chris AND Studley abused me for being a wimp.
With just the slightest bit of encouragement? i started to knock it the fuck down! Oh, yeah! Who needs a therapist?!?
Glory be! i am the luckiest!
Trailer Park Refugee 