hiking @ the Farm

Claire (the volunteer coordinator at the Farm) didn't have much for us to do today, so I dragged Ben and Jason for a thirty-minute uphill hike to the Overlook. When we reached the top, Jason's cell phone began ringing. I told him to answer it, and he pulled it out and exclaimed "WHAT?!" It turns out he somehow snatched Claire's phone and slid it in his pocket. I passed the phone over to Ben and told him to hurry down to the main building. "Prove your 'box turtle' nickname wrong!" (I gave him that nickname because he takes forever to do anything). He didn't prove the nickname wrong, but Claire was glad to have her phone back.

"You know I'm getting engaged?" Ben asked me.

"Oh yeah?" I said. "To whom?"

"Well, there's a couple..."

"You can only choose one, Ben. This isn't Utah."

"Oh, okay. I guess I'll choose the one I like the most."

"I would say that's a good decision."

"Who chooses? Me or her?"

"Both of you guys have to agree. That's how these things work."

"Okay. My wife already has a kid."

"Wait a minute, do you mean Jacob's mom?"

(Jacob is one of Ben's friends who visits the house sometimes)

"Yup!" Ben said. "She's single and ready to mingle."

(Jacob's dad died a couple months ago)

"Does she know she's marrying you?" I asked him.

"Well, I asked Jacob, and he said it was okay."

"That's great, but you need to get her go-ahead on it, too."

"Oh. Well, I will ask her, then."

"Something tells me she isn't going to say 'Yes.'"

There was a brief pause in the conversation.

"I'm going to be a golfer like Tiger Woods," he said.

"Oh yeah?"

"I'm not going to compete against him, I'm just going to be like him."

"That sounds great, buddy."

"Can we stop and get some black paint on our way home?"

"I'm going to have to say no. 'Blackface' isn't in vogue these days."