[Larger.]
Aside from 1998, I have never ever been shopping on the day after Thanksgiving. Even then I only went because my then girlfriend (now wife) was home from school for a few days, and I didn’t want to miss any of it. It was not fun. So I continued to participate in what we’d been doing for a few years before. Namely, a sort of Black Friday retreat.
This year, we went to Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia, adopted home of one of my favorite revolutionaries, John Brown. It was a chilly but sunny day, like it was the last time we retreated there in 2002. Then, I was sick and in the final year of my masters’ program. I had no idea where I’d be living the following year. I entertained thoughts of small town life because Harper’s Ferry seemed like such a nice place. Like 2002, I carried a small messenger bag, rather than a backpack.
We were in search of the hot cinnamon rolls from five years ago, served hot with icing ladled onto them. But the shop was closed, so we settled for lesser treats and coffee at the place where you’ve had coffee, too, if you’ve been to Harper’s Ferry in the last ten years. We took in a few historical sites and embarked for the trail to Maryland Heights. We walked across the bridge on which I bragged about traveling by train. Zack and I led the hike, which went well. The cool air was refreshing, but we all got a little sweaty climbing the steep trail. At the overlook, the wind was whipping up, and being sweaty was, well, chilly. I ate my lunch standing up to avoid numb butt. The gusts were blowing the Goldfish Crackers out of my hand. In 2002, someone nearly launched himself from the cliff going after a Clementine Zack tossed to him. Every year, Zack brings an entire box of Clementines in his backpack. Going back down the trail took less than a half hour because we were almost jogging. My legs felt good because they take me everywhere, but the jostling on the way down hurt my knees and my full bladder. It was a relaxing day, and I had found my mouth harp and had taken it along for amusement. My face hurt at night from the wind and from laughing. We had pizza and Maryland-made wine when we got back to Baltimore.
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