For thirty thousand years we’ve roamed the earth foraging for food, braving the elements, and sleeping under the stars. And on our Dude’s Weekend a few weeks ago, it felt pretty good to get back to those primal roots. It felt good to set up our tents in the drizzling darkness, it felt good to start our fire from wet wood, and it felt good to share guy time around the searing embers as guys have done for eons.
But all this goodness aside, there were two things that really made the trip memorable. First was the fish. Frozen fish from the supermarket, or even worse, fish sticks, aren’t really fish. You’ve never tasted fish how nature intended fish to taste until you’ve plucked a fish from a lake, pond or stream, wrapped it in tinfoil, buried it it smoldering coals, and eaten it, barehanded and with a dash of salt, steaming from the foil. If you want to go one better, eat him for breakfast.
The second really good memory from our trip happened after our time together concluded and it happened by way of contrast. If you wish to get a glimpse of the pleasure that heaven must hold, follow these simple steps.
1) Camp for two nights in subzero weather. Sleep in a tent and on a quarter inch thick mattress pad. Throw in some snow for good measure as the goal here is to suffer a little bit.
2) Ride seven hours home in a car with two of your best friends, none of you having showered for at least 60 hours for a combined man-hour odor total of 180 hours.
3) Shower, repeating the shampoo and soap lather and rinse process twice for good measure.
4) Climb into bed at 9 pm.
From 9 pm until approximately 9:03 pm you will feel more ecstasy than any caveman could ever have imagined.
And the only reason your moment of pleasure won’t last longer is that you’ll be fast, fast asleep.