Man Created Fire

Well, friends long time, no see. No excuses for my absence, although one exciting aspect of my life is that I will giving in and start paying for my own internet services at my new downtown Sex and the City apartment, so hopefully that will be my motivation to update this here blog more often. We'll see about that.. screw the whole "I'm going to write more on my blog" for a New Years Resolution. No one keeps those anyway, be honest. It's kind of like how I basically refuse to try any new fitness class at my local YMCA until at least the first of February. By resisting my urge to burn some cals at Kettleball, I am saving myself from overly crowded temporarily-resolution-motivated people who are taking up my space getting their sweat all up in my grill.

Onto more important things. I had quite the weekend in my hometown with my rents recently. It started out normal enough. We made plans for what movie we wanted to go see, I was coaxed into making dinner, and we all went to work out together at SNAP fitness, or "SNAPS" as my mom likes to call it. We roll around to Sunday and since I had Monday, MLK Day, off (holla!) I was planning on staying another night. Don't you love getting out of town, even if it means chilling with your parents? I just love the feeling of knowing that I don't have work looming over me and that no one is going to judge me if I decide that, heck, I want to take a nap at 2pm! So, Sunday started out with Mom and I going to church (Dad is confused about religion right now. We figure he reads too much and gets all of these ideas in his head and isn't quite sure what to believe. I have faith that he will come around eventually, or that Mom and I have enough pull with The Big Guy to bring Dad up high with us :)

After church, we head to lunch and then home to rest the belly for an hour before we make our way to SNAPS. I planned on only doing strength training so that I could go for a run later and then a walk with mom. I had a good go at the weights and was ready to take off, but Dad said he was going to stay for a bit before heading up to Boy Scout Island. Huh? Boy Scout Island is an inlet that sits between Lake North and Lake Babcock just north of Columbus. My dad and his best friend discovered this island many years ago and when I was younger, they took me up there with them to help clear out the trees and build some dirt bike ramps. Sweet! I haven't been up to the Island in quite awhile and was a little intrigued when Dad said he was going to go up and put out a tarp and pillow, make himself a campfire and read for a bit. Wait...what? You're going to build yourself a campfire and read on a old wooded island? Ok, Dad, I'll humor you.

I left SNAPS before he did and decide to go up to the lake before he got there so I could get in a run on the crushed rock trails. Sidenote: Crushed rock is the BEST surface for running. I had terrible shin splints when I was running constantly on concrete. It's so nice to switch it up and get in some crushed rock.

I met Dad at the trailhead, and he was actually a little surprised that I showed. Rude. I'm not going to miss out on watching my dad attempt to build a campfire and then lay out a tarp, put a blanket and pillow on top and set himself all bundled up nice and cozy for an afternoon of reading. Now, you may understand where some of my quirkiness comes from.....my faaaaather.

We walked down the start of the trail on our way to the legendary Boy Scout Island, which we like to call Haskell's Hideaway, in recognition of, well....us. The perfect spot for a fire was what we found in a space that we trimmed back and built a fire pit years ago. Luckily, we hadn't had snow for a while and the dead branches were dry enough to burn. I don't want to brag here, but, I am a bit of a pro when it comes to building camp fires. I, Sarah Haskell, have been a camp counselor at Hummel Park (where, if you can survive the sacrifices in the forest and the rabid albinos running around, you can survive anything) and am WFA certified. What the heck is WFA, you ask? Well, first of all, my other certifiedees and I pronounce it WOOFA. And, WFA means that we are Wilderness First Aid certified. That's right! If you are stranded in the woods with me, I can save you! You should feel super safe right now :)

I helped Dad get the fire started while he set up his little "nest". I don't think you can possibly imagine the giddy grin on this full grown man's face. He was like my 16 month old nephew when I pick him up and spin him by his arms around in circles. It was definitely a sight to see. Dad tells me that once a man starts to enter his years of age where he aches a little bit and doesn't have quite the skip in his step, he needs to find other activities to occupy his time and fill the voids that are now present in his life. He also calls this "manopause".

My father is one of the most hilarious and entertaining people I know. I only hope that I can grow up and be as cool as he is.