Birthday GatherEvery man who possibly can should force himself to a holiday of a full month in a year, whether he feels like taking it or not. Sunday, October 15, 2000 The night in the motor home wasn't the most comfortable I've ever spent there! My back was hurting, and the blankets we brought didn't really keep us warm enough. Jack came to bed around three in the morning, but he couldn't really sleep late either -- his back has trouble with that motor home bed. I'm trying to figure out a better way for him to sleep. He said a hammock wouldn't do the job. Jacqueline's alarm clock (what a thing to bring on a camping trip) started going off around eight. She hit the snooze alarm repeatedly, following up by incomprehensible grunts and bellows. Each time she did this, she got closer to human speech, but I think it took a few hours before she got out of bed. Beep -- beep -- beep! Jack got the fire going, then made himself some coffee on the stove in the motor home. It wasn't as sunny as yesterday morning. Again, he did most of the cooking: pancakes (but we forgot any syrup or sweetening), bacon (but I coudn't find the pepper bacon I'd bought the day before until the third batch), and eggs with cheese. Everyone got their fill. I like that Jack enjoys cooking for people!
While I was up showering at the bathhouse (twelve minutes of hot water felt very luxurious), Jacqueline proclaimed her gafiation to the other folks. "Gafia" is a fannish term deriving from "Get Away From It All", meaning to quit or drift away from fandom. I don't know what brought this on! She wants to devote herself to the Libertarian party now. Sheesh! After we finished eating, we wandered around the campsite, gradually getting things picked up and packed up. I opted to leave directly from the park, and made it out of there around two o'clock in the afternoon. I was pleased and surprised by everyone saying goodbye to me warmly, thanking me for coming and so on.
Driving south, I was lucky enough to hear Rewind on the radio. This is such a funny show! Of course they included a presidential debate parody. Luckily I remembered that my sister M---- was having a gather this afternoon, for her birthday. So I drove straight there. The baseball game was on TV when I got there. My brother-in-law cheered lustily whenever the Mariners made a good play. My younger nephew is contrarian, and is against the Mariners on that basis. My movie friend A----- arrived, then a family of friends with two kids of their own. The boy was covering all bases, wearing a Mariners shirt and a Yankees cap. After the game was done, we had a good dinner: spinach lasagna, salad, garlic bread (I helped with that). There was a dark chocolate cake with raspberries. A---- brought Medieval Madness ice cream. I don't know why that flavor had that name -- a Pulp Fiction reference, perhaps?
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