With cold weather, sickness, and long days indoors, there's not much I've been able to do. Right now I live by watching movies, eating soft foods (wisdom teeth out last week), and summer memories. These are some of my favorite stories that happened during the river season at World Wide. (Names have been changed to protect the guilty)
The beginning of the season, James wrote down his goals for the summer and posted it on the warehouse wall. Item #4: Get a back massage from Kim. Now Kim is not at all the touchy type, let alone the back massage type. A late night upstairs in the warehouse after most people had gone to bed, a few of the guides tried to get Kim to give James (who was asleep) a back massage. We dared her to tip-toe to his bunk, stroke his back and whisper in his ear "James, will you carry me to the bug hut? I forgot my shoes and I don't want to walk across the yard barefoot." We offered her a hundred and thirty-three dollars! After all the begging, persuading, and promises of money, she would not do it.
We all knew Jason had a thing for Sam, but he always denied it when we teased him about her. He was really awkward and had no experience with the opposite sex; Sam had no interest in him other than just a friend. Jason would take her out, but emphatically explain that they were "outings," not dates. He took her on so-called outings to Sunset Grill, Burger King, The Brewery, and he even got her a pair of shorts for her birthday. Finally, they reached the apex of their relationship when I was with Sam on an overnight river trip. After a easy afternoon float from Dewey Bridge to Hittle Bottom campground (more than 30 minutes from Moab), the guides and I were preparing dinner for our passengers. Out of nowhere Jason drives up, hops out of his car, and blurts "Sam-I-need-you-to-sign-this." She asked what it was. "Basically, it means if I die, you get 60% of all my money." The rest of us guides stifled laughs inside the trailer as she signed the papers. The next "outing" they had, Jason confessed that he really liked her and he wanted something more than just friends, and she shut him down. I guess including someone in your will doesn't guarantee she'll be your girlfriend.
Another late night in the warehouse found us listening to Paul describe his first kiss with another guide, Sydney, last year. "I suggested that we hike the amphitheater loop in the moonlight and read scriptures at the top. We're talking about Sydney here, you know? So we hiked up there, finished our studying, and talked for a long time. Then I said, 'A Hershey's Chocolate factory makes millions of Kisses a day, but I'm only asking for one.' and she said 'Are you asking me what I think you're asking me?' and then it was like magic after that." The best part of that night was after Paul had told us all that story. Sydney came upstairs with her Book of Mormon in tow and asked, "Does anyone want to read scriptures?" We all laughed hysterically, except for Paul, who looked like he had just been slapped by a monkey. When she realized what was so funny, she gave Paul the dirtiest look a Sydney could and left.
One night camping on the river, another guide and I were up late talking. We all slept in the inflatable kayaks called duckies. Suddenly Megan looked up from her pillow and asked, "What time did we decide to decide to do the downhill?" We said, "Uh, eight." She replied, "Okay," and then conked out again. About an hour later, she propped herself up in her duckie and exclaimed, "There's water running under us as we speak!" In the morning we asked her if she remembered any of her dreams, but she had no idea what we were talking about. I love it when people sleep-talk.
On a rent-a-guide trip for Western, Ivy and I were helping Lee (Western guide) rig our boats for the next day. I finished strapping down a confusing mess of gear with Ivy's help and muttered, "Whatever, that's good enough." Lee said, "Good enough for the girls Chris dates!" Ivy and I looked at each other, looked at Lee, and we both charity chuckled. "Wait, are you dating someone? Oh, are you dating her?! Oh man, I have a big mouth..."
This is the summer how CFA remembers it.
To finish this post, here are two favorite videos from the summer:
