Camaraderie

When I was attending UW-Eau Claire, there was a popular bar on Water St. called Camaraderie. It was an appropriate name for a place to hang out with friends to "enjoy a spirit of friendly good fellowship." (Webster's Collegiate Dictionary) Unfortunately, "the Cam" was destroyed in a fire a few years ago--and it's ironic that I now find my greatest moments of camaraderie around the campfire at the Amberg Hilton.
This weekend we held our annual canoe/kayak/cabin weekend with some of Fred's work colleagues, their spouses, and local friends who have cabins or homes near the Hilton. Five of us arrived on Friday, and after dinner spent several hours around the fire. There is no better place to tell stories, make digs at each other, and enjoy a few beers. We were in bed around 10:30 to be ready for the busy day Saturday when the rest of the group arrived to go down the river.
It was another beautiful day, just like last weekend, and the Pike was up a foot after two days of rain during the week. Fred and Gene had kayaked the upper part of the river Friday, and it was fast and deep--great for sailing over the big rocks that normally stick up just beneath the surface and tip the canoe, or send you downstream backwards. Fred and Paul launched just below Bull's Falls in the canoe, with Sandy and Gene in kayaks. They met up with Annie and Lori in the raft on the way, doing the upper river with just a few spills--mainly due to downed trees in the water. At the County K bridge, we loaded up the canoe and kayaks in the truck and set off to do the rest of the river in the raft: Annie, Lori, Michael, Mendy, Gene, Sandy, Fred, and ME!! YES! I actually let myself be talked into my first trip down the river in 17 years! I was the official photographer, and got some good pictures as we approached the rapids. Another kayaker had told us that there was a large pine tree completely across the river right above a big rapids called "the Chute." He said we could probably make it under if we ducked or "limboed" as the raft passed beneath. As we made the approach, we saw that the tree had some sharp spines sticking out the bottom of the trunk!! We all dove haphazardly as low as we could get, and made it under the tree, a lost hat and a few minor scrapes the only damage. We couldn't even catch our breath before entering the big rapids--but we made it down without incident. We almost lost Mendy in another rapids when the raft was going sideways and a wave slammed us. She fell backwards off the side of the raft--her foot in the safety strap all that kept her from dumping in. Fred and Sandy grabbed her and hauled her back in, amidst a lot of yelling by some of us as the others kept paddling through the rough water. Mendy was amazingly calm considering it was her first experience on the Pike. We made it to the end of the trip, happy and excited by the adrenaline and the teamwork that got us there. (Not that I did anything but scream a lot.)
Then it was again dinner time and another campfire, but with over twice as many friends as the night before. It's amazing how you can have conversations around the fire with people you just met that day, and it feels like you've been friends a long time. I guess part of it is the lack of pretense in that setting--who's trying to be making an impression when they're sunburned, recently soaked with river water, and swatting mosquitoes?!
Someone suggested going around the circle and having everyone tell a story from their childhood/youth. Michael shared how his dad, the town cop, caught him and his friends in the local strip joint during a raid! Annie told about shopping with her family in Sears as a little girl, and pooping in one of the display toilets! Lots of laughing and joking, all the while gazing into the flames of the magical, ever-changing, fascinating fire.
It was another successful get-together: nobody drowned, perfect weather, and great friends. As my grandma used to write in her local "news" column in the weekly paper: "A good time was had by all."