Goldfish eating ground squirrels, rabbit fur loin cloths, end of hitch hamburger eating contests, otter pop surprises, 2012 arguments, car alarm races, checkers tournaments, the mind bending word rhyming game, never ending pass- on stories; these are just a few of the things that get our crew through the long, hot days. Civilians (you know, all those non MCCers) might call our entertainment simple and just a bit ridiculous but maybe there’s more to it than they think. Life’s meaning could lie somewhere beyond the sensible and the sane. Maybe we have found the antidote to life’s mysteries and the world’s problems. Who knows this could be true, but all I know is that these ridiculous bits of fun keep us smiling and away from black holes of boredom and exhaustion. These simple things bring us closer, so that when our minds are being warped by the images of hounds tongue and Dalmatian toadflax or our arms become numb from swinging a pick, we can escape into random crew imagination time.
Along with all the fun, games, and other world philosophies, our crew does have a serious side. During our last hitch on the edge of Yellowstone, our abilities and bonds were tested. Between the wildflowers and mountains, someone had an accident involving an axe and a finger. It’s hard to put a positive spin on something so gruesome, but in a way this event brought our crew even closer together. It brought me to the realization that families come in all shapes, sizes, and relations. Families can’t always be traced by DNA and sometimes spontaneously materialize in the wilderness. My crew is my family. We slowly transitioned from 7 strangers from all over the country, to synchronized family unit. We feel weird when someone is missing and I can’t deny the growing connection between us. In some ways we’re closer than the average family. We never miss a meal together, we sweat through the same long work days, we say good night better than the Waltons, and we never forget to laugh about anything, even if it makes no sense whatsoever. I definitely wouldn’t trade a single one in for another, even if they do smell bad and fart excessively.
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