Friday

I ventured back to Indy to grab some more stuff out of storage and hit up the Margot/Bon Iver show at the Vogue. I hung out with Adam & Gary for a bit before meeting up with Liz & Eric for the rest of the evening. We stopped for a bite at Bar Louie (yay, for more bad service). We got to the venue in time to get a good spot in line. It wrapped down the block minutes after we arrived. Despite our awesome seat choice, rude people thought it was okay to stand in front of us and invite their 10 friends to do the same. Curse red purse girl. I barely got a peek at Bon Iver, which was fine since I was right up front for their show in Bloomington. The sound was kind of bad. The bass kept breaking up. It was after 11:30 before Margot took the stage. They played some new songs but not as many as I had hoped. I can’t say it was the best I’d seen them. They were drunk and a little off-key & beat for many parts of the show. Very disappointing since I’ve seen them so many times before. We got out about 1am and Liz & Eric were nice enough to let me crash there for the night. You’ll note the lack of enthusiasm in this portion of the post. I was hyped up about this show. Bought my ticket the day they went on sale and sadly, the highlight of the show was it was non-smoking (except the band who thought they were exempt) and we raised $112,000 for Riley Hospital.

Saturday

I got back to my parent’s around 11am. I was exhausted from the night before and the long drive that morning. Instead of getting the Saturday afternoon nap I was longing for, I was put to work outside. I think we did a week’s worth of outside work in an afternoon. We were working as if the sun would never come out again, which is funny to think about because then what is the point of having a nice yard at all. Anyway, my parents live in the woods, so I picked up several wheel barrow loads of sticks (ouch, back) and then raked walnuts & small twigs out of half the yard (ouch, hands). It was 6 straight hours of work. By 6pm, I was starving, so I suggested a cook-out. No, no…Dad’s birthday was the next day so we all had to shower and go out. It was 8pm before we got to the bar. I had a box of crackers at 7pm, so by the time we arrived, all I could think about was sleeping. It was a long night. After dinner, we hung out in the bar area watching the Kansas/NC game. There was a lot of money on NC winning, so we were rooting for Kansas (not that they needed our support, if you caught the game). It was a fun evening though. Zach stopped by and had a drink with us. It seems my friend is out of jail, so I’ll be planning a trip to go visit him.

The funniest part was the drive there and back. My mom wrecked the Caddy so we were driving her rental, a Kia Rio. It was the only car available for less than $20/day :) I didn’t realize they made cars with so few automatic options. It’s brand-spankin’ new and there’s no mass lock/unlock option. My mom floored it and it took a full minute for us to hit 60mph, long enough for my dad to open the car door and try helping it along flintstone style :)

“Kia-kia!!”

“Where are you going, Bill?” *cue crude gesture from Bill

“Go Kansas!!!”
“F*ck you, Rusty!”

Sunday

After a much-deserved sleep-in, we had dad’s birthday lunch and then we all split our separate ways. Jenna headed back home. Kyle & Dad went back to work. Mom did more yard work. I hopped on a 4-wheeler and set out for a 4-hour adventure. My initial goal of the trip was to get photos of all the family headstones at the local cemeteries. I want to start compiling a better family history. I’ve always been really lazy about it, even though it’s definitely something I want to do. Some relative already has a good start, but I want to expand it beyond a list of names and include some stories. So many already died with my grandparents, but some of their friends are alive so time is of the essence. Let’s hope I don’t get distracted from the task, but goodness knows my big move will do just that.

I ended up spending a big chunk of time in an old barn down the road from where I grew up. My brother, sister, and I had some good times in that barn. We were bad kids. We would try to sneak by the old lady that lived in the house in front of the barn. She was related somehow, but it was still her barn. I really regret not having the patience to sit and listen to more of her stories. The walls inside her house were mint green. The arched doorways framed 70s-style furniture. She certainly had an interesting collection of odds & ends in her back room. We were rarely asked back there, but I would study her curio cabinets as if they were treasure chests from the bottom of the ocean. One piece…a wooden block with an alligator painted on it sticks out. I never knew what it was, and I was disappointed that I missed her estate auction to possibly get another look. I took her rocks sometimes. She had some set out in her entryway so I’d bring her geodes I’d find to add to the set. I have a feeling that she & I had a lot in common. Anyway, we would sneak past her to the barn, climb up in the hayloft which was a big no-no, understandably so as the ladder and wood supporting the ladder were in bad shape. I questioned my sanity when I climbed it yesterday to grab photos. I figured someone would see my 4-wheeler parked out front if I fell and hurt myself. We all desire to be as nimble (and light) as we once were when in the presence of childhood play spots. Our cats always traveled down to this barn to have their kittens. And opossums seemed to like to go there to die. And raccoons used it as a toilet. It’s amazing we never got sick from our adventures. There was a horse stall in the middle with a 4-H paper stuck on the side. It was from the old lady’s son. He committed suicide sometime after graduation. It might have happened in the barn. The barn is full of memories for sure. I saw the poor state it is in firsthand, but I’m still sad to know it will be taken down soon. I was pretty happy with the job my little Powershot did on the photos.

See More Barn Photos