The Manly Men

A lot of my friendships are lifelong ones. A few years ago my buddy Tracy decided a bunch of us should all get together once a year in some exotic location. He calls us The Manly Men. Women aren’t excluded but the only woman on our first trip was Tracy’s wife Marian. Come to think of it Marian seemed to keep a low profile. I didn’t see much of her. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to her.

When that trip was proposed my friend Fojammi talked me into it pointing out we weren’t getting any younger. Maybe we wouldn’t all be around for the next one.

Neither one of us could afford it. I was in the process of a divorce and felt practically homeless.

There have been times in my life when I’ve thought, “What the Hell, life is short.” This was one of those times. I decided to max out a credit card.

When I was 32 I did that skydiving. I was at a low point convinced I wouldn’t live long and recklessly went though credit cards skydiving. Ten years later, I was incredibly in debt and still alive. I couldn’t figure out what happened.

Anyway I was a low point again and couldn’t think of anything better than going on an adventure with my oldest and dearest friends.

Tracy found cabins at hot springs up in the Rockies. I have no idea how he found them. It took a day to get to them. They were in the middle of nowhere.

Tracy lives in Loveland, Colorado. Mark Gray and I arrived a day before everyone else and Tracy decided we should ski. Except for cross country I’d only been down hill skiing once before in my life.

In the early nineties my girlfriend Lora decided we should go to a place called Hidden Valley. It was a strange little resort real skiers probably wouldn’t even go to. We got there after midnight and had been drinking whiskey. I took an instant lesson on the bunny slope and soon went to the top of the hill. It wasn’t that high up but you ended up skiing through trees. It was terrifying and I didn’t have insurance.

So here we were in real mountains. Mark and I both picked it up pretty quickly. Marian decided we were good enough to try it from the top of the mountain. She’d only done it once before herself. I couldn’t believe we pulled it off. I was impressed if I do say so myself. I still didn’t have insurance but this time I was sober.

The next day the rest of the Manly Men arrived at the airport. They rented a large SUV and we headed out. It really did take a whole day to get there.

Our cabins were so rustic we really felt like mountain men.

Things were starting to look up for me. I’d just started seeing my new girlfriend Valerie. My kids had just given me Everybody Loves a Happy Ending by Tears For Fears.

I can’t begin to describe how happy sitting naked in a hot spring with tiny champagne bubbles shooting up between your legs can make you, especially while you’re listening to music you love. Running from the safe warmth of a spring through snow to your cabin can be pretty exhilarating too.

Dominic found a magazine that featured the springs we were at. On the cover was a couple that looked exactly like Valerie and me so he bought it for me.

My friend Vince and I decided to climb the mountain. It’s strange when you get above where trees can grow. Even stranger to reach an altitude where the snow never melts. The view of the valley from the top almost made me find religion.

The only bad thing about the trip was everyone pooling money for the SUV rental. It came as a total surprise to me. I ended up owing Benet money.

This is the second weekend of the New Orleans Jazz Fest. Manly Men are down there but I couldn’t make it. One of Benet’s bands will be playing. We’re going to try Southern Mexico in the fall. So far everyone is still kicking.

Pics are me, after chilly morning piss break on road to springs, mag cover and Manly Men. Left to right---- Vince, Mark, Benet, Dominic and Tracy. I took the pic and don’t know where Marian and Fojammi are.