Boy day/girl day

Life continues in the pre-season at Philmont. Somehow I had it in my head that training week started two days ago (ie last Friday); as it turns out it starts next Friday. It's a good thing that there are so many cool people here. Brenna from Michagan and Katie from Illinois have been inseparable since they got off the train together. Dan, Anton and Kevin (the COPE boys) have already established a rule that if they say anything that should offend Christy (also from COPE) they have to do ten push ups; for her part Christy insists that she is impossible to offend. I don't really know the other PTC staff all that well yet, but so far there isn't a person under Greg's command that I would have any problem working with.

Also very nice is that the other departments seem downright eager to hang out with us. We eat almost every meal with Dory from the Seton and Alisha from the Wranglers. There are a couple of other Wranglers that will call out to say hello to us from the other side of the dining hall. The first couple of days we played games with the Ranger Trainers (this kind of stopped afterward, but I think it's mostly because they're working pretty hard right now). Yeah, we've got a couple of creepers around hanging out just because PTC tends to get the cutest girls or because we tend to be nice to people even if they are annoying, but for the most part everyone is genuinely trying to break down the barriers between our side and theirs.

There is one major problem out here right now, and that is what to do with time off. The backcountry's closed, only about four of us have cars and the people you play with are still the people you work with. A couple of us, when faced with the prospect of the three day weekend we're on, wondered if there might be any work we could be doing. Yesterday we discovered that if you want to go bowling anywhere on the 25, you've got to call ahead.

Today, however, was Boy Day/Girl Day. I took the COPE boys to Trinidad while the girls all went out to Taos. We shopped at Walmart and had lunch at Wendy's, and then we followed the testosterone. We went to a tack and hunting store every bit as big as the Walmart: we tried on leather jackets and chaps, we looked at guns and played with things probably meant to do unspeakable things to horses. Then, being men, we headed out to the pub for a beer. That's right, Trinidad CO has a brewery (I reccommend the Strong Scottish Ale). The conversation turned to topics that should have had us doing push-ups until our arms fell off, but that's what being manly is all about. Then I drove home to the ranch with the boys sleeping soundly to the soft melodies of Enya.

What more can I say after that?