Once again, it’s that magical time of year when I get excited for the end of summer. On my dog walk with pals this morning, I noticed a lot of arbutus leaves on the ground, crackling under our feet. I’ve blogged about that specific detail and the wistful feelings it conjures up in me a few times now so I’m not going to go too nuts on it, except to note that this year we’ve hardly had any hot weather until now, and it’s been absolutely wonderful. If we could largely bypass summer that would be just dandy by me. I like it ok on the days I actually embrace the weather by going swimming or camping but for every other aspect of regular daily life — working, doing errands in town, sleeping, exercising, etc — it’s a fucking nightmare. Heat and sun is oppressive.
Since it was a sunny and hot day today though, Jenn and I went and checked out a lake we’d never been to before. It is up near a new neighbourhood development that is weird — the houses there are all really big and modern and new but the yards all look like moonscape because it’s so hot and dry there and nothing grows except weeds essentially. It simultaneously looks expensive but cheap, poor. There is also a lot of illicit drug production up there, I’m not sure why. I guess new, kind of fancy but also shitty properties that are really spaced out from neighbours attract that kind of thing. We didn’t think about that before we went to their beach.
Fuck, I just tried to type out the beach experience in chronological order but it’s too much to bother with that way. I’ll try snippets instead.
Lots of cars parked on the road for beach. Ominous sign. Walked down trail to beach behind 30-something mom in a thong with huge ass tattoos and fake tits and lips. Seemed like a genuinely nice person though. Her bf, a very weathered 40-something who looked like a steroid, cocaine, and alcohol addict. He had a very raspy voice that screamed “I yell a lot and have a temper.” He had zero child skills. They got out of a very flashy new Corvette that is probably getting repossessed right now. The car reeks of cheap car air conditioners, the ones you buy at gas stations, we are pummeled by the smell as we walk past. We arrived at the beach and found a lot more shit rat people. Another 30-something woman who baby-talked to her poodle incessantly. Obese people literally stuffing their faces with more potato chips, as if they’re starving for the calories. 40-something dad with brutal tan lines, talking to his kids in the water very loudly and constantly, destroying any possibility of peace and relaxation. He also has a raspy voice, and a gross person laugh I can only describe as being sort of high-pitched — it’s a laugh that typically indicates shit rats. Jenn and I gave each other a look when we heard it because it was so fitting. A 50-something shit rat couple comes down to the water with their massive couples floatie and the loud dad loudly proclaims he has the same one, asks if the built-in cooler is stocked with beers, they say something like “it’s always stocked,” raspy shitrat laughter erupts and echoes around the miserable lake. Three insanely geeky 20-somethings (skinny but fat, low muscle tone, slouched shoulders, bellies sticking out, hideous white skin, acne, terrible haircuts) start throwing a football around despite there being absolutely no room to do so. Children, pets, relaxing people, are in constant danger of having their noses broken because this is probably the first time these nerds have even looked at a football. One of the geeks is the King of the Geeks, he is slightly more muscular than the other two and clearly fancies himself an Adonis. He struts around and makes big shows of every football catch and throw, acting like it’s either really hard or really easy, smiles with the greasiest, thinnest confidence, looks around constantly to see if any of the women are watching him. He probably masturbates six times a day right now. The couple we followed down have an argument and we learn that she won’t have any more boyfriends after her “last experience,” and the guy she’s with accuses her of hanging out with other guys, which she denies. It gets very tense between them. Silence ensues. Then she cheerfully offers him corn nuts, which he sulkily refuses. More obese people make their way to the beach, and I can’t take any more so we leave. But we get ice cream at one of our fave spots and I feel better.
In hindsight, we should have known the weird and awful people that make up that strange neighbourhood would be at that beach but I’m still glad we checked it out. If not for the abundance of human trash, it would actually be a really nice spot. It’s a cute little lake. I’d like to go back on a weekday and see if it is quieter, and in the fall and winter to see if there are trails around it. I bet it’s cold and lovely up there then.
crimson highway 