July 31, 2004
Monday night I hung out with Stan and Dru at their room. We ran up to the lodge to get some food, shared a bottle of red wine. Stan drank a snifter of brandy and got pretty drunk. They’re a very interesting couple. They teach skiing during the winter in Tahoe. Their stuff fits in just a couple of big bags. Stan recently found a bag of his old nautical gear, lines and tools that had been lost in the post. It’s all really old canvas and hemp and linen soaked in turpentine and tar. Very old. Some of his tools are made from the wood of historic ships. He made almost all of them. The lodge is very beautiful at night.
Didn’t get much sleep, then the next night I went to Prospect with Rabbit and Todd, the floor cleaner whose boat job I inadvertently stole. We had a great time. Rabbit flirted with the bartender; we drank a lot of beer. The Trophy Room is strictly local, filled with actual animal trophies. Todd and I hashed out the boat job situation and shared our backstories. His dad is filthy rich and lives in San Juan. Todd is sort of his "illegitimate" son, and has what sounds like a shaky relationship with him. But he recently spent time in Puerto Rico visiting, and said it was incredible. So cheap, laid back. Everyone there does nothing but party, smoke pot, sip rum. He came here from Southern California because he was tired of not having work and sponging off of a friend. He came here with 15 cents and no idea about what he was getting into. He knows a lot about astronomy.
Rabbit got hammered and told me a little more about his past. I guess before coming here he was on the verge of being in the Navy. He opted out at the last minute and came out here. I told him it was the best decision he’s ever made. His family didn’t quite think so, though. I guess he’s real close with them and they were pretty happy about him going into the Navy. He’s keeping a girlfriend in Shady Cove now, a black mother of two who can’t be very young. Todd's in love with one of her daughters. They all met randomly while wandering around the Rogue River Valley on the Fourth of July.
The next day was one of highs and lows. I was in this great mood and had plans to head to Medford with Captain Tim for some Chinese. I hiked down to talk to Tim and finalize the plans, leaving Nan up in the ticket shack alone for what I thought would be a short time. Dana, an earthy dockhand asked if I wanted to take the skiff out to Wizard Island. How could I possibly refuse? The answer is, there is no way. I radioed Nan and she seemed fine with it.
We cruised out on the tiny motorboat on the beautiful afternoon. "It’s the only way to see the lake," she said, and I had to agree. Just a few inches from the glassy, deep blue. What a great afternoon. We stopped in the middle of the lake to fill up our water bottles. Ate off the dock with Jane the ranger and Dana, feet dangling in the water. A squirrel took half of my sandwich. We headed back after not too long. You could tell the lake makes Dana happy.
Just as I was thinking, "my god, I can’t believe this is my job," I found out that Dan (boss) was pretty pissed that we went out there. Nan was hit by a big crowd and got a bit shook up. She’s older and I should have been more wary about leaving her alone. I felt like a shit. It was a stupid move in retrospect, but again, one that couldn’t be avoided. Skiff, beautiful afternoon, lunch on an island, remember? We actually did clean the heads out there.
I would find out later that Nan ended up in tears by the end of the night because I left her alone again, after a mixup that evening that was completely not my fault. I would get a second talking to from Dan (who was extremely cool about all of it). Jesus Christ, nothing is simple up here. I considered making postcards reading, "Having a great time at Crater Lake! Today I made an old woman cry!"
On another high note, Tim, George, Stefanie, Chris the ranger, and I went to Medford for a kick ass Chinese Buffet. Then we swung by Willy’s Tavern for some beer and Karaoke. Tim sang a couple of sea shantys. It was a real pleasant night, out under the near full moon on the Karaoke stage/back patio at Willy’s, sitting with locals and enjoying not being on the lake for a while.
George once got a fish hook stuck in his eye and had a ship mate pull it out of his eyeball. "I didn’t go to no goddamn eye doctor." He also doesn’t swim. He never learned and snuck by the Marines in wartime. He almost drowned once during World War II. Stan told me for old Navy men, not swimming is sometimes a superstition, as if by learning they would be showing a lack of faith in the ship.
Rabbit was falling asleep again the other night and was telling me about his first love, whom he almost married. She’s now married to another guy. "Don’t think I haven’t sat around thinking of all the ways I could kill him ... and not get caught. I haven’t come up any so I haven’t done anything. She wasn’t that pretty anyway."
Nobody knows what’s wrong with Dan yet. His urinary system is swollen up and his ureter is blocked. He’s had a biopsy and was if not still is on a catheter.
Tim may be able to get me a job at Portland parks.
August 1, 2004
Today was a pretty smooth day on the lake. 11 hours working on the dock with Stan. At about 2 we took the skiff out a little bay near the dock and took a quick swim. It was hot as hell, so the 50 degree water felt great. It’s a huge surge to your system: your lungs expand, your heart starts to race, and a smile comes to your face almost involuntarily. We took the little boat out and stripped down, me to my boxers and Stan in the nude, and jumped off port and starboard. I had to take a second jump after crawling into the boat the first time. We putted back to the dock and I spent the rest of the afternoon with wet shorts under my pants. Felt great.
I wanted to go to a nearby Indian casino after work to get a prime rib at George's suggestion, but it was closed by the time I got there. I also wanted to do some shopping and go to a bank in the nearby Chiloquin, but it turned out to be a tiny, rundown Indian town with nothing much. I settled for Klamath Falls as a substitute, and the drive was shitty, with tiny green bugs hitting the car like raindrops. Klamath Falls’ motto should be, "come to Klamath Falls: get green shit all over your car." The town was actually kind of cool, and I got an overpriced dinner of buffalo wing flavored appetizers, cheap beer, and deodorant.
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