This weekend, I earned my Bad Ass merit badge.
As a kid, I wasn’t allowed anywhere near a four-wheeler. But on a thousand acre ranch, with my protective mother miles and miles away, I was all over that thing. And, after some coaxing, I was also all over driving a door-less, top-less jeep through an obstacle course of steep ravines and wash-outs, whooping and hollering, while Poison and Van Halen blared from the speakers.
Did you know people grew up having this kind of fun? I did not. But I did know that when my co-worker invited some of us up to his family’s ranch for the weekend, that I had an education coming. An education in bad-assedness.
There was an incident where a poisonous snake was killed and I cried (minus five bad ass points), but I don’t think that’s something you could toughen out of me if you had a hundred weekends at the ranch and a hundred deadly snakes. I even had to have someone else take care of the scorpion in the guest house. But I jeeped, bow howdy, and we did not roll and no one died. I was proud.
By the end of the first evening, we were all sunburned and wearing a thick coat of dust and gritty grins. Seeing my normally buttoned up coworkers in ripped out jeans, dragging around chains and driving tractors and dump trucks was a lot like watching little boys play with Tonka trucks. I thought my face was going to stretch out from smiling so much. Fishing poles, shot gun shells, gas cans, horse bridles. Naps in the absolute silence. I don’t know when I’ve been so relaxed.
As dinner wound down that night, I thought about how it might feel like chaos for some people – ten bodies packed around the dinner table, three different conversations running at once, dogs winding in and out, thick tails thumping against chair legs as they hovered for a piece of brisket – but for me, it was a slice of heaven. As the kitchen filled with the clink of silverware and chatter ofkitchen clean-up, I turned to one of the boys and said, “I think this justmight be my favorite sound ever.” He looked a little confused, and his eyebrows raised for an explanation. “You know, like family.” He nodded.
I grew up in a family with ATVs (sadly, I even owned a t-shirt that said “Desert Rat” on it). It may be a little back-country but it sure is fun to go out and get dirty on those things! Sounds like a great weekend.
This post made me miss my family a bunch =). I definitely know and love the “family” noise!
Greatest experience of my life was when my Father-in-law taught me to drive a tractor and then let me bush hog the pasture.
Sounds like you had a great time. How wonderful…those sounds….not to mention the smells coming from my parents’ kitchen. Oh! So lovely…. so comforting…
(..and those “kitchen conversations”…why, I wouldn’t trade them for all the money in the world!)
My family discovered fourwheelers a few years ago. We’ve had some of our best times together while out camping and fourwheeling. Like watching my macho brother learn songs from girls camp around the fire at night. and really get into it.
Yes that Family sound is the best sound in the world.
I grew up traveling alot. But we always were together. so it was comforting to hear my older sister argue over borrowed sweaters at the table, My mother lecture us about boys or my younger sister mimicking me. Even today after soo many years when I come home for the holidays my favorite part is waking up and hearing my mom lecturing one of my nieces or nephews. My sister asking my sister to borrow a pair of shoes and finding my little sister using my lipgloss. no matter how old you are those are the best moments.
Loved this post (as I typically do) for so many reasons, but mostly because you always seem to capture feelings that I relate to.
Thank you for sharing.
Love this post! I have been a city girl all my life. About a year ago I got to have a similar experience on a ranch in Colorado for 9 days. Rode a horse, shot a gun, caught a fish, and went jeep offroading all for the first time. So glad you had a great time!
I grew up in much the same situation as you did. We never had access to fun toys like 4 wheelers, jet skis, and the like. I recently got to try my hand at a 4 wheeler when I got to take it up the canyon on an old jeep trail. got it going almost 30 mph up and down the trails. Fun as hell, let me tell ya. I did wear a helmet though, just in case I biffed it while crossing a stream.
I haven’t actually read it yet, but I swear when the title first loaded, it said, “Raunched”……..
Which didn’t even make me blink, since it’s you and all……
Please tell me you took some photos. I know you can’t really post pix of coworkers on flickr but I hope you took some of the ranch area and the atvs and the jeep and the dinner table. don’t let me down!!
It IS the best sound ever… I have a huge family and every weekend that’s how it is; loud, laughing, and lots and lots of eating. I wouldn’t trade it for anything!
I love the sound of family too. Over the years mine has sadly diminished but whenever there’s a loud group of us I’m in heaven.
Awesome post. Much more to that, I would say. So my theory is the more “connected” we have get through the internet and its utter gobs of superficial relationships the more we run the risk of becoming “disconnected” from deeper relationships that come with time spent with people, family and things like good old-fashioned fun in the dirt, etc. Kudos to you for always trying to maintain a great balance of both and making new discoveries. And then… sharing them with us! Fabulous writing as always!
Yup…the family sound is awesome. When I spent a “small” family dinner at my friend’s house on Christmas Eve in Bogota, Colombia (the whole family would be there the next day), there were 75 people in and out of the large house!!! My friend was embarrassed by all the chaos, but coming from a family where “small” means my sister doesn’t come home and it’s just my mom and I, I was enchanted by all the family love in that house.
And congrats on the Bad Ass Merit Badge – always a fun one to earn!
This made me miss Ft. Worth like crazy. This was us, all the time. Now I’m a rushed Manhattanite with no time for ATVs….or even dinner. We have the opposite story you know, I moved from Dallas to NYC and you…well, you know.
you are a fantastic writer