7.31.2005

weekend review, pt 1:
trying hard to look like gary cooper

So I went to the woods this weekend, just for a day, with both parents and one nephew (the teenaged one), and while it wasn't exactly roughing it, it was relaxing in a major way to get to where there are so damn many trees it looks like dusk in the middle of the afternoon, and also to hang out where we used to spent a lot of time in the summer when I was growing up. The part where we went a spot along the river where there was flat enough access that my dad could get close enough to fish and it turned out to be a canoe launching spot (and apparently a canine park?) notwithstanding, the whole of the time was excellent. The nephew and I climed the famed Cook Forest fire tower (at Seneca Point, where Gary Cooper filmed The Unconquered in 1949 and they're still talking about it to this day) and I honestly felt a fear of heights much greater than that I remember feeling at, say, age 11. It may have had to do with me being the older, more in-charge person. It may have been because the kids going back down the steps were BOUNDING, such as to shake the top of the tower, where we were. It may simply have been because I'm fast becoming a Major League Wusstastic Gentleman.

Being at the fire tower reminded me of a time several years ago, when I was probably 15 or so, when I went hiking with my brother-in-law from the bottom of that hill to the fire tower at about 6:30 am, as the sun was rising and before we were officially allowed to be in the park, and seeing all the early-morning wildlife action, and trying to be really quiet, then climbing the tower and, as we were high above a river valley at 7:00 am, not being able to see a damn thing for the fog. It was still a pretty fantastic time, getting lost on the trails and all, regardless of the dearth of view.

Part two of the weekend review tomorrow, wherein I pontificate about the uncomfortable factor at a show I was at and, if you're lucky, a great deal more.

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