Boys will be boys

Well, I made it home and without any arrest record but certainly a bit lighter in the wallet. We had a great time in Seattle and a productive WCA meeting in Ellensburg today. In many ways I would argue that women have many advantages over men and sometimes I am envious. One thing that I do feel us men hold the upper hand in is ability to have fun and be shameless when you are with a group of guys. I think this stems from the fact that as a man although you cannot fight off the effects of aging the ability to be immature forever comes quite naturally to us.

When you take four “huckleberry farm boys” and give them an evening in a place like Seattle there is virtually no chance that they will not have some fun. What is amazing to me is in so many ways these out of town male bonding trips are pretty much the same at age 43 as they were at age 23. There are a few distinct differences that I did notice on this particular trip compared to trips of years gone by.

At age 23 when a group of us would embark on a trip like this we often drove whichever vehicle that had the best chance of making it there and back coupled with the least amount of petroleum to purchase. On yesterdays trip the vehicle was chosen because it had as much room as possible and leather upholstery. When we were younger the hotel was mainly chosen based on low cost and proximity to whatever male indulgences we planned to spend our time doing. On this trip the main requirements for the hotel was comfortable beds (age) secure covered parking (leather upholstery) and continental breakfast menu (hangovers and lack of a mother or wife to prepare breakfast).

I really think that if someone wanted to do a reality show based on these types of manly excursions it would have a huge audience. The smart aleck putdowns of each other, the unbridled ability to both praise and ridicule anyone that was not in the group, and the ability to feel like we all but owned the city for the night really added to the humor and general male debauchery. I have to do a delicate balancing act here on telling about some of the evenings highlights as some of my fellow travelers have not properly trained their wives in how to not be allowed an opinion or dissenting view of the nights festivities or venues. Kidding, kidding, chuckle, chuckle now.

I will say that we had a great time and I am glad that I do not have the time, money or energy to do these kinds of male only trips very often. I was draggin butt a bit today but at least I was not the one lying in the back seat of the SUV moaning, vomiting at a gas station and saying things in a whining voice like, “man, someone get me a Gatorade while you are in the store.” *laughing* Anyway, gentlemen thanks for the fun time and remember if your bride really presses you as to where you went after the baseball game the best answer is, “well we went somewhere and listened to music that did not serve alcohol.” That should cover you ladyboys.

Today’s real environmentalist species found on the ranch is Common yarrow aka Achillea millefolium.

Today’s picture is cow 6930g and her calf that decided her mother did not have to be standing in order to have a taste of milk.