I'm sitting here on my couch, my cat purring beside me, laptop on my lap, bruised ankle propped up on three pillows.

In other words, pretty much where I've been all day.

And yes even though I've been kinda lazing around all day, I hadn't yet written my post-Okie post. Totally stalling. Not sure why.

Before leaving for Okie, I had some misgivings. Frankly the thought of canceling had flitted across my brain a few times. Yes, I know I'd been booked since the dawn of time (or so it feels), but seriously, last year's event was so utterly perfect, how could this year's hope to be the same?

And it wasn't. The same I mean.

There were people I was looking forward to seeing again, who couldn't make it for one reason or another, and people there that I really wanted to spend more time with, but couldn't for one reason or another. There was a fly in the ointment that I could not get past. There was an early over-indulgence that caused me to miss some fun while I lay on the grass counting stars and being drunkenly profound in the way that only tequila can fuel. There was the solo stumble back to the trailer that ended my ability to walk (and jet ski) for the rest of the weekend. (I swear, my ankle would have found that damn hole in broad daylight, much less in the dark, while ...umm....tipsy. This is right ankle sprain #5 in 4 years. I am a klutz, with weak ankles.) There was the most incredibly frustratingly bad run of cards (yeah like that's anything new). Oh, and let's not even get started on the fact that middle age is bringing with it changes that I have yet to fully accept.

And while these things stopped this year's Okie-Vegas from being the utter perfection of last year's, don't get me wrong, it was still a shitload of fun!

Gary and Carrie, their daughter Casey, Carrie's mum Kaye (my source of pickled okra goodness!), and their trailer neighbours Bill (aka Beer Bitch) and Rhonda, and Okie co-hosts Maudie and Oossuuu are the best people you could ever hope to meet. Generous, hospitable and friendly, wrapped around a steel core of no bullshit, WYSIWYG.

I told Gary the other night (quite sober) that I would walk through broken glass to be able to hang out with them. So, being stranded, limping through an airport for a few hours is truly a small price to pay.

I've been thinking a lot about the nature of friendship lately. There are acquaintances, friends, and Friends with a capital F. The people that fall into the latter category run few and far between for me, and it was my great pleasure to spend a weekend with so many Friends in one place.

****

I gave in to my techno-envy and bought a Flip camera, which I used a bit in Okie. I didn't take as many pictures or videos as in last year, because as I get older I realize I'd rather experience an event more than document it.

But I did get some good stuff, and tomorrow's day of sitting here on my couch, my cat purring beside me, laptop on my lap, bruised ankle propped up on three pillows will be spent playing around with some audio and movie editing software.

In the meantime, here's a Mookie-style Caption and/or Guess That Ass contest. Winner gets a buy-in and some all-in bucks to blow in a Friday Night Donkament.