Pandora's Box

C and I went camping this weekend with Mari, Mari's beau, Mari's sister and her boyfriend, L, and a fourth couple whom Mari is friends with.

We went to Fowler campground near Mount Shasta, where the McCloud Falls are. The scenery was amazing. C and I wondered on our way home how we could ever leave California when we've got scenery like this here (click on links above for photos).

The waterfalls were gorgeous. I was reminded of my days going skinny dipping with friends at Rock Creek Park in DC and half-assedly tried to get a group to go skinny dipping near the McCloud falls after dark. Unfortunately, I had no success, as the air was much too cold. The campfire was more appealing, even for my exhibitionist self, at that point.

Mari is such an amazing friend - she brought a mini cheese cake and a candle for a belated birthday celebration and even got the entire camp to sign a birthday card, even before they'd met me. She's such a sweetheart.

So... Now let me tell you about L. She used to be a friend-of-a-friend, but every time we see her, she is so much fun that I hope that we can soon just say that we're friends instead of friends-of-friends.

She is hysterically funny and a super-smart herbalist. Watching her mince herbs with soot smudged all over her face from digging her car out of a ditch was a huge turn-on.

She looked incredibly charming, though the choice of the term "turn-on" was said more for her benefit, should she ever google "Mari" and "Fowler" and come across this post. LOL. Let's just say L is an insatiable flirt. I've never enjoyed being a voyeur to flirting so much as watching L throwing one-liners at Mari and other nearby female friends. Hey, maybe that's why I want her to be my friend, so she'll start flirting with me! ;-)

So L is an herbalist (yes, I've said that, haven't I?). And she goes to herbalist conventions a lot. And she has come to notice that a lot of herbalists profess to having "seen UFO's."

In fact, L seems to be a magnet for people who have seen UFO's.

She was on a date with a woman she'd been seeing for awhile and was telling her about these people who have seen UFO's.

Her date then proceeded to tell her about the time she was abducted by aliens when she was ten years old. This is in all seriousness.

Then there was a flood of UFO sighters popping up in L's life.

One of her herbalist clients told her she had also been abducted at ten.

And on this very camping trip, when her car got stuck off road, the man who helped her dig her car out told her that he had seen numerous UFO's nearby.

L tells us all of this in disbelief, "What is it with ten-year-old children being abducted by aliens? And how do I always find these people? Or how do they find me?"

L then cries out, "I might as well believe in Big Foot and God, too!"

Having reached the climax of her story, L finally starts to settle down.

I look at her sheepishly, "Actually, L, I didn't want to say anything, but... when I was ten years old..."

L's jaw drops and her eyes nearly pop out of her head.

Then I burst out laughing.

"You bitch!" she laughs with me.