Editor

Wow – what an adventure! Sorry for the late BACKBLAST. I must be getting old. It has taken me a few days to recover and I hardly drank, in comparison to some of my brothers.

I am trying to channel my inner Editor, it will be hard (That’s what she said), but I will do my best.

Let’s set the stage. It is cold. It is windy. It is snowing / sleeting. As we walk south, the sleet is right in our eyes. In sum, a great setting for a fun adventure.

We started our adventure with a surprise. Dr. Freud appeared just before 7 pm, before our pre-ruck stop at Mufasa’s sister’s house. In all honestly, it was Mufasa’s brother-in-law’s awesome bar basement.

It was a short ruck over to our pre-stop. Wow – what a basement. Awesome old bar, cool items all over the wall. I don’t know who has more alcohol, this basement or Wiseguys?

At the pre-determined time, we started our ruck back to the Wheeler parking lot.

Another surprise – Trapper (Tim Fealy) posted for his first ruck!

So – in the eternal words of Dr. Freud – “thank you for popping his ruck cherry.” We popped 2 of them.

Oh no! Scarecrow can’t find his phone! But DUH – it was in his back pocket the whole time.

Ok – so I learned there was an over / under of 30 – how many times “That’s what she said” would be said by me. I started strong, coasted and in the end, kept most of them to myself. But alas, I crushed 30 times!

Since Dr. Freud was an add-on – no one noticed Spur wasn’t around. We had the correct number of people. Hence, we started towards our first official stop – Scarecrow’s front porch.

While we rucked along South Street toward’s Scarecrow’s house, a small car drove along the side of us – some were worried. But fear wasn’t necessary as it was Spur who arrived at the wrong start point (the Square) and tracked us down.

While at Scarecrow’s abode, multiple messages were sent to neighbor Bert to join us (as he was unable to join us due to an illness in the house). Eventually a light was seen and Bert traversed the road to visit with us and receive his Milk & Cookies patch from Editor.

Which reminds me, many times, without warning, Editor would disappear and would drop and perform ruck flutter kicks or ruck swings. He needed to complete some WOD or something. I learned not to ask questions.

After filling Scarecrow’s recycling bin, we set off to Editor’s garage. Upon arrival, we found 2 – six packs of Purdue beer – the Blonde and the Dark.

As we approached Greenwood, Trapper made his exit. This was enough for him. First ruck, icy, sideways sleet. I couldn’t imagine why he would want to cut out early.

For some reason, Editor had great difficulty opening his garage. Once it was open, he ushered us to the back corner for us to ooh and ahh at his Patch Board. I think he needs a larger or another patch board. But there were several familiar patches and many cool looking patches. The sports posters were cool too.

After taking another picture, we set off on the long and winding road to Class Act’s garage. Editor who lives in the same neighborhood was completely lost – it was quite entertaining.

Side note – the amount of urine that was let around Crown Point was impressive!

Class Act had a plan – he sent messages and made phone calls to ensure the garage opened as we walked up his steep driveway.

I remember the driveway clearly. A few summers ago, we planned a group run from Class Act’s house and he ghosted us. Fonzie wouldn’t let us try to wake him up or do monkey humpers in the front yard.

Interesting observation – if you look across the street from Class Act’s house (to the west) – his neighbor has a dinosaur and a Big Foot in the yard. Super cool. I can’t wait to show my kids in the day light.

While we were in Class Act’s garage, a car approached with their window down – this is always a good start. The driver yelled out they had followed our foot prints in the snow for blocks (creepy). Class Act stressed we should not interact with them, as they might be students of his. Too bad – they could have been a fun add to the group.

During the evening, I don’t recall where we were, but Scarecrow said, “I don’t know, man, I’m kind of seeing double right now.”

At this point, many people were seriously lost (looking at Spur and Dr. Freud). I ended up leading the way to Dr. Freud’s house – which was our next stop. The only direction I was given was he lived near the baseball fields at the high school.

Upon arrival at Dr. Freud’s garage, we had lost more than 1/2 the group – I fear there is a lot of flooding in his neighborhood, as the ground is frozen.

Dr. Freud had all sorts of interesting brews to share. I heard we were in his garage for 45 minutes. Beer after beer appeared with the words, “you have to try this” spoken many times.

I remember looking over at 4howa who looked absolutely exhausted at this point. I think his eyes were trying to tell me something, but since I was getting tired, I couldn’t decipher the message.

Upon leaving, we learned the roads were icy. First off, Mufasa hit it hard (That’s what she said”). We remarked, the roads were icy and who should fall in nearly the same spot? Yes – Dr. Freud pounded the pavement hard.

Fortunately, after several falls and slips, it appears no one was seriously injured.

We then sojourned to Spur’s garage where several rounds of home made cookies magically appeared and many brothers ate Spur’s sausage (insert snide comment here).

The south side of Crown Point may turn into an EPA Superfund Site – just saying. I hope everything flows towards Lowell with the spring rains.

While hanging out in Spur’s garage, Mufasa started to get twitchy – the garage door was closed and I think claustrophobia was kicking in.

Spur got comfy and took down one (of a dozen) camp chairs. Shortly after getting settled, another chair tried to make a run for it and nearly took Spur out with a head shot (insert comment here). Spur didn’t even blink.

At some point this spring, Spur will find beer cans hidden by Class Act in the garage.

Once everyone was concerned about Mufasa scratching at the garage door, we set off for Wheeler. Mufasa and I were outpacing everyone, when again, Mufasa bit the pavement. I helped him up and after about a block, Mufasa realized he didn’t have a bulge in his pocket said, “where’s my phone?”

We doubled back and I assumed it would be near where he fell. We passed through the group that was trailing us and I located his phone in the middle of the ice patch Mufasa fell upon. Apparently I’m a hero.

We continued our trek north on Main Street encountering cars who thought it was strange we were walking in the road. We learned the black tar (put on cracks) was very slippery. Mufasa took a partial fall (again), this time while on the sidewalk.

There was a plan to take a group picture around the GRT F3 license plate (BB’s house). But – trespassing (the foot prints in the snow would be a dead giveaway) and the fact someone parked behind his vehicle prevented the shenanigans.

Fortunately, we all made it back to Wheeler, in some sort of shape. Vehicles were started, we performed a COT and took a video. I helped Dr. Freud clean his icy windows – which is a real bitch. His windows are at a strange angle.

Various mileage totals were heard, 7ish miles to over 9 miles. Lots of alcohol was consumed. Fluids released. Words shared. Memories made.

At each location, pictures were taken – to make sure we didn’t loose anyone.