On friends and friends

It is always nice to be home.
It is sometimes nicer to be away.

The latter was the case as I spent this weekend in Okoboji Iowa.
Okoboji is about 200 hundred miles South and West of Minneapolis almost directly on a line to Souix City Iowa. It is resort town. It is also the hometown and birthplace of the parent's of my friends Bill, and his wife Michelle(No blog yet.... come ON Michelle.). Generations of Bill's family can be traced to this area. In fact, the family has maintained a presence there for a long, long time. Bill's folks, (recently retired) have in the last couple of years, torn down the old homestead and rebuilt in it's place, a fabulous home with ALL the amenities and awesome panoramic views of the lake.

I tell you all this because Bill and Michelle generously invited Jeremy and I to accompany them to this Shangri-la in Okoboji, for a weekend of fun and relaxation.(Bill's folks were away while we were there this time, though in the past, we have been invited down while they were there. )

All I can say is this. Anyone that KNOWS me, knows I do not sleep well, nor do I relax very easily in my life.

I slept like a log this weekend.

Bill and Michelle are like family to me, and the more I know Jeremy, the more I really like him, so as far as being relaxed is concerned....as they say..fuhgiddaboudit. I was in relaxation heaven.

We just basically had a walkabout weekend. No agenda, no plans, we just goofed around. It was grand. Started Friday night, Bill drove so he and Michelle picked Jeremy and I up, and off we went, walked the dog, dj'd (badly but enthusiastically)in the car with Jeremy's iPod(not his fault it was filled with goodies I just sucked at it...lookit all the pretty lights!!duh!!!), walked the dog, ate subs, took pictures of Happy Chef the super stoner, walked the dog( he had a bit of a....let's just call it a butt leakage issue and leave it at that), arrived, unpacked, snacked on nuts and chips, read, slept, went antiquing, drove the shoreline, went pawn shopping, visited Bill's Grandma Bunch, scarfed enough chips, salsa and nuts to feed a small army, walked the dog.... ate Bill's "from scratch" pasta, talked, read, surprised(me) with a birthday cake, watched a movie(bad) in front of a roaring fire, fell asleep during same, talked about school, nodded off in front of the fire more, read some more, enjoyed the atomic supermegajet multi headed turbo orgazmo shower.....twice, (a sybriatic experience you ALL should have...and no I really didn't.. ;-) , eggs and veggies and goodies for breakfast (again from Bill's hand), played video games(played so poorly the dog beat me..then I found out I was driving a pod ship that was severely handicapped...sorta like me, duh.....switched to a MUCH better car...and promptly got my ass kicked by the dog again...I don't even want to tell you how badly Michelle creamed me..sigh...but I blowed up real good....) , packed up, drove home, more dj-ing(this time by Jeremy, still not sure about that "all-American plastic bango tango band" thingie), more butt leakage (it WAS funny..sort of....trust me..you had to be there), FINALLY got to pay for something, (a couple of drinks and some Nutter Butter's...big deal ...Grrrr we are gonna have a talk about that, I mean it..) more dog walking, arrived home, said good bye's, unpacked ......in other words, we did nothing and yet we did everything.

There is something about hanging around with people that you honestly love or really care about that is so amazing. You don't really have to DO anything to have fun. It is the company you keep that makes doing anything fun..

It reminds me of something we should never ever forget.
It is not the what or the where or the when that is important, it is the who...it is always the who. If you are really lucky in your life, you get that part right..

My love and thanks go out to my friends for a most wonderful weekend.

For me? I want to say to the rest of you reading this, you should all be so lucky.

Posted by Jack at February 24, 2003 01:31 AM