rhapsodic.org is a weblog by Valette Keller

Single Block

When Steve told me he was planning a trip to the wonderful winterland that is the Alaskan Interior and asked me what kinds of things there are to do here, I laughed at him.

When my laughter quieted down enough to notice he wasn't joking, I told him that there are only three things people in Fairbanks do for fun during the winter: get drunk, make babies, and go to Hawaii.

And while he was free to do any of those three things, I would not be participating with him in any of them. But if he wanted something to do between the drunken baby making, like, uh, being inappropriate in public while sipping a root beer float, then I would be up for it.

How that offer turned me into Chauffeur Valette I will never know, but it was a great excuse to take Friday off from work.

We spent a good chunk of Friday wandering through Ice Alaska and the 2006 World Ice Art Championships playing on the ice slides in the kid's section and looking at the single block competition.

I hadn't been to the ice park since I went with Melissa the March before she died. It was nice to be back. Difficult, but nice. For a brief moment when the friction of my jeans stopped me halfway down the ice slide I felt very Adult-like. But then Steve pointed and laughed just like Melissa would have. It's nice to have friends.

After the ice park we (meaning Chauffeur Valette with her cute little driver's hat and subservient downcast gaze) drove out to Chena Hot Springs to see whose hands would prune up the fastest. Steve came away from the hot springs disappointed that we saw neither monkeys nor Japanese tourists, both of which usually abound at the rock pool.

I know what you are thinking, Mother. About my heading miles from civilization with a strange man I hardly know and met on the internet. But let me put your mind to rest by saying that I am much stranger then any boy who plays on the internet.

And also I had complete control of the vehicle, the destination, and the rope and duct tape in my trunk. You should be worried for the poor man's safety, not mine.