View Full Version : WB Family/Friends
warraghiyagey
12-24-2007, 23:11
Hey y'all,
Anyone else here find their family and friends reside mostly here at WB? I do. And as it's my birthday and a couple hours til Christmas I get to be a geek.
Family never worked out (and I've had more than one growing up) so I found my sisters and brothers on the path I've walked.
And now I find them here with folks who love a similar path. And it's all so sad and dramatic and beautiful - and I place this in the humor forum because the smile inside is the life I seek.
So please, say hi if you like, and relate of good friends and family in whatever form you've known them.
It seems like a lame concept at first, but I can tell you of hilarious tragedy and hope this is a place where everyone can relate their own.
So I'll start - I've never seen my birth mother (since 4 months old) so I really don't remember her.:p
Anyone of my WB family want to jump in and - well let out more than you ever thought you could to strange friends?
Pedaling Fool
12-24-2007, 23:17
I never got into this Christmas thing and don't really care about family and all that crap. Probably why I fit good into the Navy and those long deployments, which I especially loved during this time of year.
When I was in homeport during this time of year, I would never take leave during the holidays so I wouldn't cheat anyone out of going home.
I just don't get it.
warraghiyagey
12-24-2007, 23:24
You're not alone. I get it (in my own way). And thanks for answering. God how I hope to hear from everyone here about this.
Peace dude.
warraghiyagey
12-25-2007, 01:41
How about crazy Holiday family stories?? Anybody out there??:)
tallfran
12-25-2007, 02:27
No crazy family stories -- I had a fairly typical family for the era when I grew up: working dad, SAH mom, one older sister, no brothers. The only one left is my sister, who I usually see over New Years.
I'm a nurse, so right now I'm at work. I almost always work Christmas. I have enough seniority that they try to call me off every year, but I tell them to call someone off who has kids at home, and a reason to want to be off. I'd rather be here at work making time and a half!
Maybe next year I'll take both Christmas and New Year's off, spend Christmas with my sister and New Year's atop Springer with my hiking family...
granny franny
All my good stories could have legal ramifications. :eek:
I was driving home the other morning a saw this huge infalable globe with elves running around in it. My immediate thought was to jump on it with a big knife and slash away. I didn't though. Is something wrong with me. What would you do if you saw that.
I did fill up an old king size waterbed once and do that.
But, it deserved it. :cool:
warraghiyagey
12-25-2007, 04:04
Thanks y'all.
Good stuff. Keep em comin. A thread with no rules, very refreshing. Merry Holidays. Have I mentioned that y'all are my only family?:)
All my good stories could have legal ramifications. :eek:
That's why they are good. Or might be...
Happy Birthday W. Don't sniff any glue.
StarLyte
12-25-2007, 07:14
Love your post W.
I'm burnt out this morning.
Shopping, baking, anticipation, driving, up early, but then the smile on my loved ones' faces is my reward.
And my family here on Whiteblaze.
I'm glad you're here.
Love to all.
Frolicking Dinosaurs
12-25-2007, 08:57
Merry Christmas to all. Beautiful thoughts, Warrghy. We have a huge family, but I admit to be closer to some here than to most of them. We will be having five separate Christmas celebrations this year - one in Chattanooga, one in Ringgold (GA), one in Louisville (TN), one in Greenback (TN) and one in Atlanta. Hectic doesn't begin to describe Christmas when you have 9 kids, 21 grandkids and 7.5 great-grandkids.
We will be going down to Fort Polk in soon to see our granddaughter and great-granddaughter. Our grandson--in-law is in Iraq this year and this is our granddaughter's first Christmas away from her family. I told her to arrange a get-together with all of the other wives in similar circumstances for they were her family in LA - a message very much in keeping with what Warrghy wrote.
This is a strange Christmas for me... it just isn't the same without Granny Dino (Memorial slideshow for my mother who frolicked off to golden trails on Sept 29th this year (http://www.mem.com/SessionTransfer.aspx?destpage=MovingMemories.asp?I D=2069401&mm=0)). While Mom hadn't been herself for several years due to Alzheimer's, just her physical presence was special. I miss her so very much. :(
I'm at my parents' house in Middle TN. Last night my mother threw a dinner party so I could be shed my Light on some friends who have always wanted to hike the AT, but didn't. I got to tell AT (and JMT) stories to an admiring crowd, then lead them to the computer and show off photos on my TJ, and look at pictures from the JMT. A very gratifying evening, where I got to be a hiker celebrity. The gratifying thing is that my mother hates my hiking, so it's enjoyable to be around people who admire hiking feats in front of my mother.
Twisted, no?
Now I'm killing time before the present opening. We all stayed up way too late last night. Some people still aren't up and ready to rip. I'm going to have to start making lots of noise soon.
Merry Christmas to All!
superman
12-25-2007, 10:21
My Christmas
Mom is a hooker.
Pop is a pimp.
Sis is a crack whore.
My brother is in jail.
I have no health insurance
I have blisters and boils.
My doc is in business
Oxycotin is on sale.
I heard this is a holiday
So where are my toys?
Screw the good spirits
I'm trying to make bail.
My New Years resolution
Is better this year.
It's not to get caught.
How can I fail.
Just a Hiker
12-25-2007, 10:44
Merry Christmas Warraghiyagey! (and Happy Birthday)
I guess Whiteblaze is as good a place as any to spend this day! I am sure there are alot of us who spend the holidays alone, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. My family has all died off with the exception of a few people, so I actually want to be alone today with my new love which is Cross-Country Skiing!! I have spent the past month volunteering at the VA Hospital every day, but today is for me. I am going to ski in Bangor City Forest and then make a good dinner, and then just relax. As a matter of fact the next week is for me because I plan to return to full-time hiking in early January.
I hope everyone is having a good Christmas and I hope everyone gets to hike all they want in 2008.
Just Jim
warraghiyagey
12-25-2007, 11:07
Thanks all for the most delicious posts! After reading them I've found myself smiling as wide as ever. Great stories.
By the way, I may be alone but it's not quite as pathetic as it sounds. I have so much love in my life, even if it is too distant to ever span, and fills me still while I walk on toward the trail.
Keep the stories coming or I'm going to have to tell you about my foster family growing up. Or worse yet, my BIRTH family - AAahhhhh!!!:) :) :)
Lone Wolf
12-25-2007, 11:13
Hey y'all,
Anyone else here find their family and friends reside mostly here at WB? I do. And as it's my birthday and a couple hours til Christmas I get to be a geek.
Family never worked out (and I've had more than one growing up) so I found my sisters and brothers on the path I've walked.
And now I find them here with folks who love a similar path. And it's all so sad and dramatic and beautiful - and I place this in the humor forum because the smile inside is the life I seek.
So please, say hi if you like, and relate of good friends and family in whatever form you've known them.
It seems like a lame concept at first, but I can tell you of hilarious tragedy and hope this is a place where everyone can relate their own.
So I'll start - I've never seen my birth mother (since 4 months old) so I really don't remember her.:p
Anyone of my WB family want to jump in and - well let out more than you ever thought you could to strange friends?
what? you lookin' for sympathy? it's between s**t and syphilis in the dictionary.
just kiddin'. have a nice day :)
warraghiyagey
12-25-2007, 11:23
what? you lookin' for sympathy? it's between s**t and syphilis in the dictionary.
just kiddin'. have a nice day :)
Classic!!!:) :)
Happy B-day Don!:)
Looking forward to seeing you on the trail in 08
Well, Wargy, life's not so bad. Thanksgiving '89 I was recently divorced and feeling glum. Some friends and I spent that night at Tuckermans Ravine shelter. It was a most memorable trip, in spite of the -10 degree temperatures that night. There are a couple of pix from that trip on my website. We walked up from Pinkham by moonlight and star light.
My parents are both long gone, but at the moment the house has been invaded by in-laws. My wife's father is 93, her mother 91. They'd heard something about a party, so yesterday afternoon my wife's sister arrived from the Bronx, bearing the Ancient Ones. They're kinda interesting to have around, at least in short doses. They're reasonably healthy and self-sufficient, which (at their age) is no small feat. The Greatest Generation. Heh.
I have many friends here in town, but the ones I hold close to me are my hiking friends. I feel like I am one with the hiking community..........
Merry Christmas all...........
I feel like I am one with the hiking community..........
What did the Buddha say to the hot dog vendor?
"Make me one with everything."
Had the "Feast of Seven Fishes" last night with old friends in good ole Brooklyn last night. Today I visit grandchildren with CeeCee. Family and Friends. Don't get much better'n this, 'cept when on the trail!
Lone Wolf
12-25-2007, 12:43
Had the "Feast of Seven Fishes" last night with old friends in good ole Brooklyn last night. Today I visit grandchildren with CeeCee. Family and Friends. Don't get much better'n this, 'cept when on the trail!
how many did you eat ya fat bastid?!:) 10 minutes and it'll be FIRST TODAY!!:banana
superman
12-25-2007, 14:13
The earlier poem wasn't completely factual.
Pat from Maine is at her parent's house but will be home tonight. My son's and their wives were here for a couple days and left last night. They went to my exes house. Winter and I are hanging out here for Christmas. The driveway and snowblowed paths are all glare ice. When My son's were here I made an es shaped luge course going down to my lower field. It worked great but I'd be afraid to go down it now because it's all ice. Winter and I went for a long walk on the rail/trail and brought in fire wood. Life is good.
how many did you eat ya fat bastid?!:) 10 minutes and it'll be FIRST TODAY!!:banana
I think I 8 the whole ocean :D
Warraghiyagey, Happy Belated Birthday! (It's my birthday today. I have empathy for holiday birthdays. They are two distinctly separate events!)
I don't hang with my bio family. The memories of my then-22-year-old brother trying to choke me to death in a rage (he beat his various wives, too) seem to get in the way of the warm and fuzzy feelings. Especially when you add in my mother's comments that I shouldn't have mouthed off at my brother, else he wouldn't have had to "straighten you out." (My father was a kind and gentle soul who never raised a hand or said anything evil about anyone, so my brother didn't learn to smack women around from him.)
Sooooo anyway.... I've found family along the many paths I've taken in life. And I'm so fortunate to have many good friends. There is nothing more valuable than good friendships.
Damn! My age automatically updates on my posts! There goes another year!
DawnTreader
12-26-2007, 14:00
Wargghy,
Happy Birthday Man. Christmas was hectic for me. Very grateful for my family and my hiking friends. I got a pair of Detroit Tigers crocs :) Can't wait until May. Stay well.. until we meet again...