[ Friday, May 28, 2004 ]
Yesterday, I thought of a ton of things I needed to put in here. But when I actually sat down to write...nothing. Could've had something to do with the fish I ate yesterday evening & the way I became engulfed in nausea 30 minutes after eating it. The "Place Grill Marks Up" instructions should have alerted me.
Today I went to Beattyville to visit Billie after I left Marcie's. She's at her mom's house until Saturday. I practically lived in that house from 13-18. It was just such a new feeling to be close to town, to have neighbors whose houses you could see from the window, to have Carlos' Pizza deliver to your doorway when you called instead of laughing hysterically and then hanging up. We tormented the delivery guy. He was in his 20's & had long hair & we just thought he was the shit. Years later, in Andrea & Rondal's wedding, he was Rondal's best man and I was the honorable maid. He had no recollection of his days as delivery boy.
I used to have so many home videos of us: hitch hiking up the road dressed in fake beards pretending to be ZZ Top, recreating Cops with a neighbor's white van & Billie & Sam pretending to be feds, the Redneck Christmas Special with the reading of The Redneck Christmas Story -
"Twas the night before Christmas
and all through the trailer
Mama's kids raised some money
so they could bail her
out of jail where she sat
on that cold winter night
cause her & Uncle Eugene
got into a fight..."
Huh. Good times. Too many in fact. And definitely too many stories to include in this post. But I've experienced & shared a lot of moments with Billie. And I think our friendship will always be like this despite the distance or time that comes between us. I'll always feel the deepest admiration for those girls( Billie, Sam, Andrea, Jodi, Tammy ). They were such a part of my growing up, such a part of my becoming.
After I left Billie's, I went out to my Aunt Joan's to borrow a tube for the lake tomorrow. It was such an experience. The tube was hanging near the ceiling to the side of the garage. Getting to it required some clever placement of the feet. Getting it down required climbing on a cabinet, trying to lift it & wiggle it off the hook while Joan pushed from the floor. It was an ordeal. I kept thinking 'God I hope this fits in my car.' Finally we got it down. I held it up to the car & realized, there was no way this thing was going to fit inside. Deflating it would have taken too much time. Plus we'd just have to inflate it again in the morning. So I put the top down. We put the tube in the back seat. Joan & Tammy held it down while I put the top back up. It fit. Bulged the top a bit but it fit.
On the way home I had two or three different stories running through my head. The theme? Things to tell cops when you're caught in peculiar situations. "Man, they're going overboard with this airbag thing." "I swear officer, I was gonna put it in my trunk but I've got the cooler and, like, all these fishing poles." "Back off. This is one big ass doughnut."
I'm gonna have to remember those. Cause tomorrow morning I'm driving to Shoemaker Ridge with that thing.
Of course I could always use the old standby..."Yeah, I know you. Didn't I see you parked in the Gorge one night?"
I love small towns.
Much love,
~ Rebecca 9:59 PM [+]
