Nov. 7th, 2017 11:34 am
HiBearNation, part 1
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muckefuckSo back in February, when my buddy Philbo first posted that tickets to HiBearNation, the St Louis bear run, were going on general sale, I bought one. I didn't know then if I'd even go but I figured that I could always cancel if I decided I wasn't up to it, whereas otherwise I'd probably delay my decision until I missed the chance to make reservations. Besides the room and the flight were totally refundable meaning I'd be out at most about $100.
Monshu and I had been kicking around the idea of going for several years. Bear Pride was the only run we'd ever done together, and that only half-heartedly. This seemed a good tester: a smaller, more local run where we'd be sure to see some friends. Plus I really liked the idea of going down to my hometown with him for something other than a family function. For once, we'd be able to go out and actually see the city, which we'd both spent several years in but never together. Obviously we'd have to keep this plan to ourselves.
I vacillated before reserving a double (since it was the same price as a single) even though I had no one in mind who might want to share. At one point, I offered the other bed to Uncle Betty and he initially seemed enthusiastic, but then he never mentioned it again so neither did I. Sharing expenses wasn't a necessity to me and, the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of having the space all to myself.
I didn't even touch base with my bear friends like I thought I was going to. A general shout-out on Facebook would have alerted my relatives and I couldn't remember who had talked of going down except forgrunter who hadn't said a word to me since he went full-on BernieBro last fall and ended up deFriending all dissenters. I scanned the guest list without finding any familiar faces and realised that I could walk into this event no knowing a single person. Did it feel a bit frightening? Yes, but in a good way.
Of course, I should've known that after 20+ years of Bear Pride, not knowing folks at one of these gatherings is basically impossible. At the airport preparing to queue up, I saw a familiar face and sidled up to chat. We found our seats separately and waited to taxi, wondering what the hold-up was, until 2 minutes before scheduled departure, Miss April sprinted down the aisle to one of the last free seats in back.
Younger Me would have attached myself limpet-like to one of them from that point on. Mature Me just went ahead with my existing plan of taking the light rail to the Convention Center (though I did text my younger brother a bit on the way to have someone to share the experience with). I arrived, checked in, and discarded my plan of getting a nap in in favour of heading down to the lobby, where I immediately met some guys and started chatting. It was easy and comfortable and set the tone for the whole rest of the weekend.
Eventually I fell in with a couple living in Little Egypt since half of it was a guy I'd tricked with when he lived in DeKalb. We picked up Martin the Englishman, who's as reliable a presence at these events as Bob Singer was back in the day, and walked around the corner to a bar and grill with patio seating. (It was crazy warm all weekend.) After that, I got to the bar too early and whiled away the time chatting up one of the locals as I waited for the crowd to thicken.
I had a couple of drinks, tried dancing a little bit, and ultimately had a crazy make-out session in the middle of the bar with one of the cuties from earlier. Again, Younger Me would have tried to hold on to the moment, either trying to make an assignation for later or hung around hoping for more. Mature Me said, "That's a good high note to end on and I want to be up before ten tomorrow" and strode outside to catch the bus without so much as saying goodnight to a soul.
If only I'd kept that up! But that's a tale for later.
Monshu and I had been kicking around the idea of going for several years. Bear Pride was the only run we'd ever done together, and that only half-heartedly. This seemed a good tester: a smaller, more local run where we'd be sure to see some friends. Plus I really liked the idea of going down to my hometown with him for something other than a family function. For once, we'd be able to go out and actually see the city, which we'd both spent several years in but never together. Obviously we'd have to keep this plan to ourselves.
I vacillated before reserving a double (since it was the same price as a single) even though I had no one in mind who might want to share. At one point, I offered the other bed to Uncle Betty and he initially seemed enthusiastic, but then he never mentioned it again so neither did I. Sharing expenses wasn't a necessity to me and, the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of having the space all to myself.
I didn't even touch base with my bear friends like I thought I was going to. A general shout-out on Facebook would have alerted my relatives and I couldn't remember who had talked of going down except for
grunter who hadn't said a word to me since he went full-on BernieBro last fall and ended up deFriending all dissenters. I scanned the guest list without finding any familiar faces and realised that I could walk into this event no knowing a single person. Did it feel a bit frightening? Yes, but in a good way.Of course, I should've known that after 20+ years of Bear Pride, not knowing folks at one of these gatherings is basically impossible. At the airport preparing to queue up, I saw a familiar face and sidled up to chat. We found our seats separately and waited to taxi, wondering what the hold-up was, until 2 minutes before scheduled departure, Miss April sprinted down the aisle to one of the last free seats in back.
Younger Me would have attached myself limpet-like to one of them from that point on. Mature Me just went ahead with my existing plan of taking the light rail to the Convention Center (though I did text my younger brother a bit on the way to have someone to share the experience with). I arrived, checked in, and discarded my plan of getting a nap in in favour of heading down to the lobby, where I immediately met some guys and started chatting. It was easy and comfortable and set the tone for the whole rest of the weekend.
Eventually I fell in with a couple living in Little Egypt since half of it was a guy I'd tricked with when he lived in DeKalb. We picked up Martin the Englishman, who's as reliable a presence at these events as Bob Singer was back in the day, and walked around the corner to a bar and grill with patio seating. (It was crazy warm all weekend.) After that, I got to the bar too early and whiled away the time chatting up one of the locals as I waited for the crowd to thicken.
I had a couple of drinks, tried dancing a little bit, and ultimately had a crazy make-out session in the middle of the bar with one of the cuties from earlier. Again, Younger Me would have tried to hold on to the moment, either trying to make an assignation for later or hung around hoping for more. Mature Me said, "That's a good high note to end on and I want to be up before ten tomorrow" and strode outside to catch the bus without so much as saying goodnight to a soul.
If only I'd kept that up! But that's a tale for later.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCUXjdlaJII
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