Ketchup

Sorry about the lack of entries lately… I am scum, I am the slime that collects on scum, etc.

Anyway, today is 06-06-06: bars are hosting devil-themed parties, and many went to the opening of The Omen. Personally, seeing as how I will be soon living on my own and scary movies are not my bag, I went to X-Men III with my best friend, who has hereby dubbed herself “The Phoenix”. I think that it is a well-earned moniker as our school has been trying to kill her spirits as of late, but I am confident that she’ll make it out intact and keep her good sense of humor.

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After graduation, I made the drive in the blistering heat to see the PU’s (Parental Units) to pack up stuff at their house. Yes, my hometown has internet, but it is dialup service and seeing as how I haven’t quite decided about sharing this blog with family members, why risk updating on their computer?

On Sunday we drove their beat-up Ford Explorer out along a desert trail for a short hike. Luckily, we waited until evening when it was a cool 104^o to venture outdoors. (It was 114^o on graduation day!) After a short hike we turned around to head back and managed to puncture a front tire on a sharp rock. Seeing as how we were over a mile from the main road, my father decided that we should drive for a few minutes on the leaking tire. Rather than jaunting down the steep dirt roads we had climbed up, he veered us into the softer sand of a wash.

From there we proceeded to bury the Explorer into the sand, and I mean axle-deep into the sand. I attacked the sand around the tires with great ferocity as it was dusk and the light was fading fast, however, there was no coaxing the Explorer out. It had lost its will to live and abandoned its four-wheel drive capacity in the process.

So, my sexagenarian parents and I proceeded to walk back to the house.

For over five miles.

At night.

Having not eaten dinner before we left.

I am not proud to admit that I sulked a little bit, as I thought we could have tried a little harder to dig the Explorer out. Two hours later, we made it home and had a light supper of freshly-baked bread and butter, as we were too tired to be hungry.

It is somewhat odd visiting home as it seems that our roles are evolving, and even reversing a bit. I am now the overprotective one, and I warily kept an eye on my father throughout my stay. Although he is the only male on his side of the family to have made it into his sixties without a heart attack, he is not the intimidating figure that he used to be. Small changes in behavior appear with every visit, and although he still somehow manages to bombard me with advice, he is so much more cautious and fearful than he was in the past.

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As you may have already guessed, my recent vacation was to Seattle, Washington. In true tourist fashion, the first night I requested to visit the Space Needle. It turns out it costs $14 to ride to the top! We got our money’s worth though, as we stayed up there watching the sunset wash gold, pink, and ultimately, blue hues over the water and skyscrapers while we sipped on hot chocolate.

It’s always fun to catch up with old friends, and with Ru I am never quite sure what to expect. We have known each other since middle school, and although interests and location have often separated us, it is always good to reunite.

I remember a recent visit of hers when I met her at the Greyhound bus station. I had expected to find the same girl from my childhood—halfway through any book she could get her hands on, and too smart to conform to things like peer pressure. I always somewhat envied her, as back during high school, I was always scraggling to fit in with everyone from student council to the cheerleaders to the weekend binge drinkers and never quite seemed to find my place. She always held steadfast to her beliefs though, and didn’t seem to waste time worrying about what everyone else thought.

However, instead of the quiet girl from the past, a tank-top clad woman stepped off the bus that day, complete with straw cowboy hat and flowing honey-red tresses—a completely transformed confident and carefree Ru.

So last week, when I halfway expected to see a cowboy hat in the car coming to meet me at the airport, I was shocked again to meet a metropolitan version of Ru, smartly dressed in a fitted jacket and tailored pants with a sophisticated shorter hairstyle.

Many times I think that distance is really the true test of friendship, and it is always interesting to see which friendships endure with time.