Quiet Saturday night

We went to a friend's last night, for wine and bullshitting. We played a variation of the game LIFE, called Real LIFE. I've never played LIFE before, but I suspect that Real LIFE is much more fun. The squares have events such as "get shot in a drive-by shooting", and "use drugs". We did a lot of giggling.

Tonight I talked my husband into playing Scrabble with me. We haven't played in a long time, mostly because board games are not his first choice of ways to spend a Saturday evening together. Our Scrabble board used to come with us on camping trips. My favourite place to play Scrabble is in Bryce Canyon, Utah, right in the middle of the day when it's the hottest, but even then it's just a touch cold for me unless I'm in direct sunlight. I think that vacation was the one I enjoyed the most.

We drove all day and all night and arrived in Bryce early morning on the second day of our vacation. Driving through the night made us both a little off-kilter so we slept most of that day and night. We didn't quite feel human until the third day of the trip. By that time, the camp-ground had filled up with other couples and some families. Next to us was a younger couple who spent most of their time fighting with one another until past dark. On the other side of us and across the road was a young Asian couple; the boyfriend was celebrating his birthday and invited us to join them. We didn't, because we're rather standoffish and because I was afraid of people in Utah, but I think of them sometimes and wish I hadn't been so closed off and suspicious of strangers.

We played a lot of Scrabble on that trip. Tonight reminded me of that vacation. In Bryce, we were surrounded by chipmunks. They would come right up to me and take food offered if I held very still. During the day we hiked around some, and drove up to the look-out points. Standing up there, separated from certain death by a three-foot railing and seeing for miles in every direction, there was a little part of me that wanted to jump off the railing, just to see if I would fly.