This weekend I went to my friend Eric's house to help him with some household projects. I have to say there is something so satisfying about good old fashioned manual labor. It really makes me feel like a man, simply put it was a great man-cation.
My man-cation began with a drive to the dump in Eric's beat up old Ford F-150, aka the Pig. It was really a classic Southern Maryland experience since the Pig kept losing power and we had to drive in the break down lane for the entire half hour trip. Now I know that this sounds crazy, but for some reason I love going to the dump. Something about throwing stuff on the ground and breaking things is really relaxing to me, don't ask me why. It was especially vindicating since I got to finish off his solar power driveway lights that I first tried to destroy (accidentally) about a year ago with the help of another friends car.
Eric had mentioned that he also needed some help moving wood. I guess that I didn't realize that when he said some wood, he really meant enough wood to heat his house for a decade. It was a little daunting...but then I got to use a chainsaw for the first time which was nothing short of fricking awesome. In fact, I enjoyed that chainsaw so much I was ready to chop down enough trees to build an addition to his house. Then the rip cord broke and my dreams of being the next Paul Bunyan snapped right along with it.
I also met Eric's horse Robert. While I was absolutely terrified that at any moment Robert could decide to end my life with one swift kick from his massive back side, it sparked an interest in horses that I never realized I had. I always knew that they were intelligent animals, but watching Robert communicate with Eric and with his horse girlfriend was really amazing. I found myself wanting to know everything about horses, and even though they scare the living day lights out of me it struck me that for thousands of years humans relied on horses for almost everything and yet for me just the thought of getting too close to one seemed so foreign and uncomfortable. It challenged me, and now I feel that I must go horseback riding sometime in the near future if anything just to overcome my fear, but mostly because I feel like I am missing out on something by not knowing what it is like to take a horse out for a long ride and experiencing that sort of connection with such a powerful and important animal.
As a post script to my blog on Friday, you will all be happy to know that while I did not go out to a bar or drink green beer on St. Patrick's day, I did make it to Eric's friends house for a St. Patrick's day party. Not to disappoint, they had green plastic hats and I found myself wearing a green bow tie with green LCD lights and a baseball cap that read "today I'm Irish, tomorrow I'm hungover."
So all in all it was a great weekend. I got to stroke masculine side which is so often oppressed by life in the city, and I managed to fulfill my St. Patrick's day obligations.
My man-cation began with a drive to the dump in Eric's beat up old Ford F-150, aka the Pig. It was really a classic Southern Maryland experience since the Pig kept losing power and we had to drive in the break down lane for the entire half hour trip. Now I know that this sounds crazy, but for some reason I love going to the dump. Something about throwing stuff on the ground and breaking things is really relaxing to me, don't ask me why. It was especially vindicating since I got to finish off his solar power driveway lights that I first tried to destroy (accidentally) about a year ago with the help of another friends car.
Eric had mentioned that he also needed some help moving wood. I guess that I didn't realize that when he said some wood, he really meant enough wood to heat his house for a decade. It was a little daunting...but then I got to use a chainsaw for the first time which was nothing short of fricking awesome. In fact, I enjoyed that chainsaw so much I was ready to chop down enough trees to build an addition to his house. Then the rip cord broke and my dreams of being the next Paul Bunyan snapped right along with it.
I also met Eric's horse Robert. While I was absolutely terrified that at any moment Robert could decide to end my life with one swift kick from his massive back side, it sparked an interest in horses that I never realized I had. I always knew that they were intelligent animals, but watching Robert communicate with Eric and with his horse girlfriend was really amazing. I found myself wanting to know everything about horses, and even though they scare the living day lights out of me it struck me that for thousands of years humans relied on horses for almost everything and yet for me just the thought of getting too close to one seemed so foreign and uncomfortable. It challenged me, and now I feel that I must go horseback riding sometime in the near future if anything just to overcome my fear, but mostly because I feel like I am missing out on something by not knowing what it is like to take a horse out for a long ride and experiencing that sort of connection with such a powerful and important animal.
As a post script to my blog on Friday, you will all be happy to know that while I did not go out to a bar or drink green beer on St. Patrick's day, I did make it to Eric's friends house for a St. Patrick's day party. Not to disappoint, they had green plastic hats and I found myself wearing a green bow tie with green LCD lights and a baseball cap that read "today I'm Irish, tomorrow I'm hungover."
So all in all it was a great weekend. I got to stroke masculine side which is so often oppressed by life in the city, and I managed to fulfill my St. Patrick's day obligations.
3 comments:
If you really want to get in touch with your masculine/horse side, you should go see "Equus" starring Daniel Radcliffe aka Harry Potter.
I'm not sure if you are being serious, or if you are just trying to get me to do cartwheels on the metro.
I'm so serious that I will buy you a plane ticket to London to see it. Then I will make you do cartwheels on the Tube.
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