Funkytown

Nick Woodland 7/22/23

I felt the first tinges, inklings?, barbs?, of homesickness today. 

But for what?

It was a strange moment of displacement. 

SItting in Six Flags in Darien Lakes and in a funk watching the New Yah-kers walking by – certainly not in Colorado anymore. Wait?! New York!?

Last night I wrote this in my journal: ‘Too tired to even speak now’.

We have covered some ground in the last 5 weeks and I’m feeling drained and out of sorts and today started bad. So all I can claim is homesickness for a home I no longer have.

Our camper is a welcome home however and we have grown to learn how to live in it.

Somewhat.

Kind of.

Some things are frustrating as hell and we all deal with it however we can. Some of us by getting mad at everyone and everything around us, some by storming off and riding a bike, some by getting quiet, and another with a humble stoicism that is like our glue at the moment. But we deal.

Teagan told me the other day that I have been mad a lot on this trip and I don’t doubt she is right. She usually is. I am more affected by my kids behavior than ever before and I fail to rise above the fray and instead let myself get sucked into their moodiness and then fall into a bout of frustration. I try hard to help them and want them to see the error of their ways, to show them they are being selfish, or self-centered, or cruel, or not thinking about our pact we made. But it’s like banging your head against a brick wall.

Our pact? you say.

Not 5 minutes into our drive away from Bailey on June 14th, near Will O Wisp where we spent the first 10 years of our time in Colorado, I made them all agree to a pact. The pact was that we would always think about the group before ourselves. That we would always act in the best interests of our family and each other over anything individual. That we were going to be closer together than ever before and that if anyone was being selfish in any way it would harm the cohesiveness of our little clan.

I don’t know if it helped or not, but it has given me something to fall back on when they get into a me-me-me tantrum.

A rollercoaster or two is good to get the funk out – and also for doling out a mean headache, I am too old for those – so the day ended well and it is a beautiful night outside with clear skies and no wind. A fire winks through the trees at another campsite. A dog barks (what, am I back in Bailey?). Teagan is playing with a friend across the way, Ava went for a walk, Sienna and Wendy went to check out the live music playing in the campground.

Niagara Falls tomorrow. Can it top Six Flags?