Got back last night from Laconia. Certain bumps in the road notwithstanding, it was a fun time. I hadn't seen Brianna in a year and, now that I think of it, the same goes with Mary. The line up was a good one: Me, Mara, Spira, Luke Warm, Mary and her husband Dan, Brianna, and Rob. A laid back, cohesive group.
When Mara and I arrived (we were the last to show up), we all drove down the street to the beach. Unfortunately, the water had too much bacteria in it, so we couldn't swim. Dan, Rob, Mara, and I played some frisbee, which proved to be the wrong activity for Mara, who strained her calf muscle .
We didn't stay too much longer at the beach and went back to the condo, which I should mention here, was pimped out. Huge TV with killer sound sytem, leather couches, dishwasher, the works. Once there, Mara spread out on the couch and put some ice on her leg. It was tough to gauge how severe her injury was, but she could barely walk. Fortunately, Rob's a doctor, and was able to assure Mara that she'd be alright if she just rested the leg.
Dan got the grill going that night, and we had burgers and hot dogs for dinner, along with a nice tomato salad. Afterward, we played a movie trivia game called Seen It, and another game I can't seem to recall the name of . Whenever this group gets together, we play games. Not head games, though; just board games. Not that you needed the distinction, but I figured I'd throw it out there.
Most everyone, except for Me, Brianna, and Luke Warm, went to bed fairly early.I slept on a sofa bed in the living room with Mara. Luke Warm slept at the foot of the bed, faithful dog that he is. As I was getting ready to go to sleep, I realized Mara and I were about to be sleeping in the same room with the most brutal snorer this side of the Rockies. I didn't say anything to Mara about this, not wanting to saddle her with even more hardship. The last time I shared a room with Luke Warm, I ended up going out to my car to sleep in the freezing cold. That was after throwing my shoes at him to get him to wake up. He never did. I prayed to Thor for a snore-less night. For Mara's sake more than mine. I knew the horror that potentially awaited me, but Mara, poor kid, might not make it through the night, I feared.
Thor was kind. Luke Warm didn't snore, or if he did, he did so as gently as a mother's kiss because I didn't hear him. In the morning, Mara and I engaged in a little funny business while Luke Warm slept. Who knows, maybe he was awake, the little pervert.
The day was spent at the pool swimming and playing tennis at the court adjacent to the pool. It was my first swim of the summer and, though it was pleasant, I wasn't too thrilled at getting my ears clogged with water. I could barely hear for the next 24 hours. Oh well, such are the hazards of swimming.
For whatever reason, I was razzed about some of my physical shortcomings this weekend by some members of the group. It's not too often that it occurs-- never, actually--but it did this past weekend. It wasn't brutal, but my ego was bruised. The worst of it was whenMara let me have it at the pool and wouldn't let up. I didn't want to get retaliate and have it turn into a big situation, especially when I was pretty sure she was only trying to fit in, but I certainly let her know she wasn't doing me a service.
I went back to the house and packed. I tried to not to dwell on matters, and did so successfully, I think. Still, though, I would have rather these matters never existed. I'm aware that I'm not particularly handsome, but when people feel the need to remind me of that, my confidence level shrivels like a mushroom left out in the sun. Nonetheless, my skin is not so thin that my good time was ruined. I went back to the pool and played a little tennis with Brianna, Spira, Rob, and Rob's boyfriend, Dave, who had just arrived. Spira and I were the only ones who spoke Tennis as a second language. The rest had played often in their lives. Still, though, we acquitted ourselves well, despite the fact that Spira, channeling Barry Bonds, hit more than a few out of the court. That shit was very funny to me.
After we finished playing, I found Mara off by herself in the parking lot. She was upset. She felt terrible about what she had said to me and felt everyone had given her the cold shoulder after I had gone back to the house. As angry as I wanted to be with her, I only felt compassion. I knew she wasn't trying to hurt me, not in the way that lasts. She was with a group of people that, for the most part, have known each other for years and speak candidly in front of each other. I should have been more sensitive to the difficulty she felt she was having fitting in. After we talked a bit, she felt better. I told her if she ever did something like this again, she'd be feeling the whip of my backhand. On the tennis court, that is ( awww, isn't that cute how I made you think one thing, but meant another?).
It started to cloud up, so we went back to the house. Mara and I loaded my car with our luggage and when that was accomplished, we all went out for some ice cream. When we finished eating, Mara and I said our goodbyes to everyone. I didn't want to go. I wanted to stay another night with everyone, but I had to work today.
We hit so much traffic on our way home, that it added another hour to our drive time. It was stop and go through the entire state of New Hampshire. Not a pleasant ride. I took Mara to get some groceries when we got back to town because she was going to be immobile for the next day or so.
When I dropped her off at her apartment, she couldn't find her keys. We searched everywhere in my car to no avail. I called Mary and asked her to check the condo. Everyone looked, but came up empty. Fortunately, Mara's landlord was able to let her in the apartment. The keys are still AWOL.
There are some things about this weekend that I can't address, but would like to. They involve affairs of the heart and if I could do so without uncovering a whole bunch of stuff that should probably remain covered, I would spill my guts. Alas, I guess some things should never see the light of day. At least not until the timing is right.
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