“Good answer!” Paige said with a sarcastic ‘golf clap’.” I gave her the stink eye.
“Yeah, I tend to agree. Lose your honor by breaking your word is one of the most fucked up crosses to bear! Believe me! It should be too! We seem to forget there are consequences for our behaviors!”
“How are you going to integrate your philosophies with society?” Elaine inquired.
“There are only a few items that are part of my ethos that doesn’t dovetail with mores of society. One is harming my family or friends, there will be a reckoning. How the tabla is balanced is open. There’s a Latin phrase that appears all over in Scotland: Nemo me lacessit impune! Our family lives by it.”
“No where…one…impunity.” I guessed.
“No one touches me with impunity.” Paige injected.
“I like it! Simple, to the point. Very utilitarian!” I said as I pondered. I looked at Elaine. She was smoking a cigarette, sizing up Mac. We are very much alike in being very slow to let people close. Even with the common bond, we still operate with caution.
We sat, drank and talked till 11. We’d probably hit the bite in the morning. It had been a great day!
*****
Day 4
Our last full day started out with the same routine. After breakfast, we broke out one of Mac’s MIL grid maps. We decided on one of the existing tracks and packed up. Heading up the track, Mac and Paige took the lead. The trail took us up through white, yellow, lodge pole pines. The other day the pine flowers bloomed. Essentially, these little seed pods let loose their pollen at one time. Everything is dusted yellow! It makes Elaine sneeze sometimes, but I just love the smell! It’s a very specific pine smell that I can’t describe. It’s the smell of the pine woods I guess.
We had been hiking for an hour and a half and took a break. Mac approved of my hiking stick. It was a long piece of Manzanita trunk that I had finished myself. I removed the roughness with heavy sandpaper and finished it with linseed oil. I had wrapped the handle in leather. It was light, strong, and flexible. He’d mentioned the walking stick he made from a yew tree. The route chosen was easy. The soil was that crumbly clay that nothing grows in: except pines! Just a nice stretch the legs walk. We made our way back to camp and ate lunch. Elaine wanted to read, Paige a nap. We said the ‘hell with it’ and went fishing.
The wind had started to gust a bit and some mid-altitude clouds came in with it. Mac took the helm and we headed back to the dam. We found, what was thought to be salmon, around 50 feet. It was obvious that they were staying there until feeding. Motoring around, and scanning the bottom structure, crappie were found. A regular ‘convention’ on a stump-covered hump. We were on the fish for about 40 minutes, then the bite turned off. Mac grabbed a couple of beers, laid back, and took in the sun. Mac rummaged around in his knapsack and produced his leather cigar case. He opened it, took out a cigar, and offered me one. I looked at the sky, thinking.
“For Christ’s sake dude, live a little!” He let out in exasperation. I took a cigar. He passed me the torched and I lit up.
“How did you form all these personal philosophies that you live by?” I asked, lost in thought.
“Some were handed down, attitudes of a family and it’s legacy. People and experience gave help me form my own personal ethos.” He said with a sip of beer. “You know what I’m talking about. You’ve done the same thing! You’re one of those souls who is always asking ‘Who am I? Where am I going and where do I belong?’.” He followed. I smiled.
“Those seem to be eternal questions. Do you have a semblance of where you’re going?”
“A few ideas. Don’t know many of the specifics, but I do know that all of us are wired in it together!” He replied.
“I have that same feeling, that were joined at the hip, so to speak. I wonder how that happened?”
“Who knows!” he breathed.
We saw a bear out foraging for food. It was nice to see that some things still work.
“If you were to choose a martial art or fighting system, what would you recommend?” I thought out loud.
“I’d have to say Krav Maga. Easy to learn, highly effective, and pragmatic. Very Israeli! Basic ‘moves’, no ‘katas’, no working 5 years before being competent! You’d like it. I have a friend who teaches in the City. I’ll give you his number.”
“I need something more! Violence in the city is off the hook! I worry every day that Elaine has to walk to the Muni stop for the train, then downtown. She has to go to work with pepper spray and a stun gun! That ain’t fuckin’ right! I know other cities have had problems, but this is off the hook!” I ended with exasperation.
“I know. Start training. Stay the course.”
The sun was close to the western hills. Back at camp, Mac and I pulled the boat out and prepped it for the road. One less item in the morning.
Dinner was light. Salmon salad spread was made out of the leftover fish. More items were put into the vehicles, just to get organized. I hate tearing down camp! As usual, we were gathered around the fire. I guess I was lost in thought.
“What’s up?” Elaine asked, bumping my leg with hers.
“Just thinking about returning to the ‘Cave’.”
“Cave?” Paige queried.
“You know of the Cave Allegory?”
“I haven’t thought about that in years! Plato’s ‘Matrix’.” Mac commented.
“Unfortunately, the zombies will kill you! Now I know why that Walking Dead TV show is so popular!” I said in frustration.
“Something tells me that changes are in our future.” Elaine said in thought. Another one of those cryptic statements of hers.
Paige mentioned her project at the university was finally ending. She wasn’t sure if she was moving on or what. Elaine discussed some of what was going on at work. She often just speaks in generalities. She has always be careful about talking about her job, any facet of it. Career and home have always had a wide separator. That being said, and knowing like I do, something is brewing! On that note, it was time for bed.
*****
The End of the Beginning
We were back on the road by 9 the next morning. We stopped at a gyros place outside of Santa Rosa for lunch. Elaine wanted to drive the last leg of the trip. A little sleepy from lunch, I laid my head back and closed my eyes. My thoughts drifted to the events of the weekend. Mac’s strange, enigmatic qualities completely contradicts the other hard and fast rules he lives by. As always, I’ll play with the puzzle piece, to see how it fits! Dropping my guard is slow, at best. I’m wary of women and ‘stiff arm’ most men! I’ve come to realize how deep the ‘cut’ went with my father. Some part of my soul snapped close when the dickhead bailed out of our lives. I’m pissed at all of it! What it did to us emotionally, mentally, and financially. I’m not certain I know how.
Gary and I just meshed. We were matched as pitcher-catcher in our sophomore year, and we made school history! A number of school records were broken. But, Gary and I had different paths. I’ve read in numerous books or seen in movies, how a pair of men who maintain friendships for years. My experience has been very few friends and numerous acquaintances. I think I have considerable work to do with beliefs and attitudes! Deep down, I think I need and want a mentor. That being said, I still chafe at the idea of vulnerability. I’m going to trust in my path.
This small holiday with a major disconnect has been a boon for the ‘Fellowship’! The general timbre of the group is more of a family. Mac refers to us as a clan. The one thing I know for certain is that Mac is a protector! I’m not talking ‘Snorg, the Caveman’! He’s that guy who always has his head on a swivel and ready to step-up and a moments notice! He has a number of the same properties as Ed. The common thread is Marines who are men with a solid self-image. However it may have manifested, we all somehow converged in this time and place. For what remains to be seen.
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