So I spent the weekend out in Versailles, Ohio, at Poultry Days. This is the third or fourth time that I’ve gone, and as always it was a wonderful time.
Jeff and I flew out to Cleveland on Friday morning, where we met up with Tazo. Dropped back to Taz’ place so that he could pack, grabbed some breakfast at a place around the corner from him, and then piled into his little car for the drive down.
I would like to take a moment here to vent at Toyota, and at Continental. I don’t know who you people think sits in your vehicles, but clearly your model human is way too small. My knee-to-hip length is longer than the total horizontal space given to passengers in coach, or in the backseat of a Corolla. Get with it, people: not everyone is 5’4″.
In any case. Stopped off on the road to pick up a very large quantity of beer, some Old Grandad Bonded, pickles, and sundry bar-type foods (granola bars, that kind of thing). Packed up the cooler, and got back on the road.
Arrived after an uneventful trip, and turned out to be close to the first people at the fields. A couple of tents had gone up on top of the hill, but not much else. We got everything unpacked, got the tents set up, had a beer or two, ate some chicken (by which I mean exactly 1 chicken, barbequed, along with 2 cups of apple sauce, 1 pt Orange Drink, and a couple of rolls), and sat around as the rest of our team filtered in. We got enough for Walking Beer Shtick, and that’s when the fun really began.
For those who don’t know, Walking Beer Shtick is to ultimate what beer league softball is to major league baseball. It involves, by rule, no running and no jumping. You must have a drink in your hand, and in almost all cases that drink is alcoholic. Overexertion is a turnover. It is incredibly fun. As the night wore on, more folks wandered in to our little camping area and joined in the game. More beer was consumed. Whiskey was broken out, and consumed. When it got dark, we moved to somewhere with lights, and picked up right where we left off.
After 6 hours or so of messing around, throwing frisbees, drinking, hanging out, and so on, everyone filtered off to bed. Sometime after bedtime, it started to rain. And it got cold. Ugh. I woke up Saturday morning to wet ground, cold rain, generally less than ideal conditions. We all got moving to the fields (Jeff much less quickly than the rest of us).
It rained for the first two games. It rained pretty hard. And it was really cold. Collectively we didn’t look so hot, though there were a couple of flashes of real ultimate-looking stuff. Taz’ parents showed up, bringing with them his rain gear; they’re wonderful people, and it always makes me happy to see them, so that was great.
The rain stopped, and more ultimate happened.
Games ended, and we all headed back to the campsite. Wandered off to the fair and ate more chicken, and then played more walking beer shtick (hrm), though at a generally more mild drinking pace than the prior night (thanks, in part, to the absence of deadly rye alcohol). Some folks wandered off to the fair and spent a while attempting to win prizes from the booths there, having consumed far too much sugar in the form of elephant ears and funnel cakes to want to do anything like sleeping. Other folks did sleep; Taz tried to sleep, but some poor man puking in the bushes woke him up (to say nothing of his teammates rudely talking in the circle right in front of the tents).
Sunday morning it still wasn’t raining. After a slow start to the morning, we all made it to the fields and got the payoffs underway. We won our first game, which included what I think might have been my first actual layout D ever. Though I’m not positive, since I couldn’t really see it. Maybe one of the other folks who was there could chime in and tell me whether I actually did layout, or if it just felt like I did. But anyway.
Our second game, well…lets just say that it wasn’t very pretty. We lost. Boo.
Which meant that we had to spend a while playing Street Fighter (“yoga flame”), Bunny (“bunnybunnybunnybunnybunnybunnybunny”), and minitanks. The last of these is pretty cool; it involves the whole team, on knees and elbows, wandering around attempting to knock each other over by headbutting other people in the side. Alliances are formed, alliances break down, fun is had.
After an hour or so, everyone got a little tired, so we headed back, broke camp, got more chicken…Jeff and Taz and I were about the last ones to leave (FILO), taking off just as the rain started back up. Back to Cleveland, where we crashed with Taz on Sunday night, and then flew back here on Monday morning.
I don’t know what else to say except that it was amazing and wonderful and a beautiful thing. Many fun people, both those I knew before and those who I met for the first time (Jen and Canadian Paul had me cracking up all weekend). I got to play with a whole bunch of people who are all way better than I am, my annual retreat to the world of “oh, that’s what ultimate is supposed to look like”. I enjoyed myself immensely, in other words.
And yes, the chicken is just as good as ever.
More from other folks:
Joe Little
Others coming, I’m sure…