A Firebell in the Night
I was nodding off in the recliner and it wasn’t even eleven. I never go to bed prior to that time but sleep was drawing nigh for some reason last night. My eyes were ladened heavy with fantasies and I stumbled into the bedroom and don’t even remember my head resting on the pillow. It seemed only moments later that I arose to an ominous sound outside. Trying to get my bearings, I knew someone had broken into the Jeep as the security alarm was sounding. The clock said 2:40. You know what it’s like to be startled in the middle of a sleep. And then not remembering where you are. On top of that, trouble is brewing outside. I shook Robin’s leg. “Someone is trying to break into the Jeep,” I said, “I have to find clothes and go out there.” By this time the needles were piercing my eyes but I was awake. She said, “lay down and go back to sleep, it’s only the train whistle.” 
It was then that I realized my world of actuality and the errors playing havoc in my REM sleep. I’m working too much. We’re in the middle of a thirteen day stint. Why am I doing this? There is one thing to workamp. And there is the commitment I made at the Elkhorn Cafe to help out and give them a break. But I’m realizing I’m retired and working more than I did a year ago. Something will have to give as I’m prostituting my belief that time is more important than money. At the end of this stint, time will be taken for photographing, wandering, and just relaxing. Hopefully I’ll remember the train whistle sounds nightly, and this campground is too safe for vehicle tampering.
That’s the unwritten rule here. Bring your own drinks and your own chairs. Neoma then stops by to chat as Gary usually is in bed by 8:30. Tom and Deana usually make a stop after work as the cafe closes down by 7 and their just at the other end of the ghetto from us. Nancy will pop her head out of their adjoining motorhome, with or without husband Daryl. If she’s not working late Donna checks in almost always last, never leaving that warm smile at home. And within a half hour we have eight to ten people chatting on the deck. Usually, John, the Deputy Sheriff rolls in around 9:30 or so as we all continue to trade stories. I’m reminded of nights back home on the patios of Rifgon Drive, when Officer MacDonald would drop by to join in the festivities. It always seems OK to act a fool or taunt the edges of the law when a peace officer is in company. Occasionally a few of our co-workers from the golf course will stop by. They make up the youth section of the crowd. Still in college, three young interns usually strut in as if they own the world, Ahh, remember those days. I think they find Robin and I as their surrogate parents, without the parental restrictions. And all of this without a fire due to the wind. On nights I have a fire, which is about three times a week, there may be as many as a dozen to fifteen people drop by. The only nights we don’t do this is when the weather is a bit disagreeable. One thing I’ve learned about the North Dakota weather is if you don’t like it, wait just a half hour and it’s sure to change. So there are no highlights this week, just the warmth and camaraderie of new friends, but then again, they are the highlight of the week. We’ve agreed to help some friends out tomorrow on our day off and cook at the Elkhorn as it’s Car Show weekend here in Medora and the tourists are out in numbers.
I insisted that I needed to retrieve my package prior to closing and I had to get this on Friday night because Ryan said they were closed on Saturday and the kids wanted photos of me opening it on Sunday morning. Once we got to Bismarck, Robin had to fess up. She told me that her gift to me was that I would be off work on Saturday as she called my boss and requested it. That felt good. And then she told me that I had to go to the airport as my surprise from the kids wasn’t a package from FedEx. The package was a 5′7″ blonde named Erin. Yes, my daughter was making the trip up here for a long weekend just to see her daddy. I knew she didn’t have the money to fly and took a day off work to spend time with me. Just the thought of this made me well up and out came the tears. We had a raucous good time and her presence had to be the best gift a father could have experienced. The entire family fooled me on this one. And apparently all the neighbors knew of the package and kept it quiet and secretive. Robin pulled this one off real well. Thanks everyone.
He never physically punished me but once, but he was the only man of whom I was ever really afraid. I do not mean that it was a wrong fear, for he was entirely just, and we children adored him.
Robin’s on the injured reserve list this week. Some three odd weeks ago she hyperextended her knee while carrying a case of soda from the basement of the pro shop up to the snack area. She attempted to treat this on here own for awhile but all for naught. The discomfort and pain was bearing heavily on her mental state. Despite my urging, a visit to a doctor was a pipedream. I surmise most nurses are like this, not practicing what they preach. Balm and a tens unit also proved futile in an effort to heal it. I finally convinced her to go to the clinic in Dickinson. The seventy mile round trip was not something she relished and I knew here despair over a solo. She had to make the trip alone as I had to work, The walk-in clinic no longer took walk-ins so they sent her to the local hospital. A severe sprain was the prognosis, although a hairline crack in the tibia showed on the x-rays. Apparently that was an old injury that went unsuspected. A brace, aleve, and rest are the watchwords for the next week. However, her going away gift from the hospital in Dickinson was a brand new, shiny pair of crutches. With no work for the remainder of the week, huddling in the RV all day long without human conversation makes her wanting for some highlights. Rest is not a friend of the excited mind. So we traversed through the Park in search of her endeared friends–the prarie dogs. I knew these guys would bring a cockleshell to her heart. So, as she did, enjoy the slideshow.