I was fifteen. They just turned thirty. I don’t know why they wanted me around, but they did. They were a nice couple. The son had inherited his father’s moving business and I knew many teenage boys who worked as movers for them, including my brother.
I sat in their living room with their longtime friends and listened to an upbeat conversation about how they finally were okay with their lives. Yes, it all seemed to make sense when they hit the age of thirty. I had no idea what they meant but their joy in this light switch revelation was inspiring.
They took me to several concerts back when you could see famous musicians at small venues pretty cheap. And once they took me on a mini vacation with them. It was a lodge in Pennsylvania. The thing I most enjoyed was not all the crazy snowmobile riding through the woods, but the lodge itself – sitting in front of the humongous fireplace with my hands wrapped around a cup of hot chocolate. I’ve never liked the cold. Sitting there, facing the window, and watching the snow fall onto the arched stone bridge crossing a glistening icy creek was perfection.
I often dropped acid with them and their friends. They had a ping-pong table in the basement. The balls were painted in day-glo and there was a blacklight. The orange balls left beautiful trails as they were batted back and forth by adept players.
One magical winter night, under the influence, we went outside to watch the snow come down in prismatic color. Several of us went “bumper skiing” by grabbing onto the back bumpers of the very few slow-moving cars braving the weather. I didn’t feel the cold. I felt a warm glow and saw the snow whisking by in electric rainbow streaks under the streetlights. I walked home as the sun was rising. The effect of the acid was waning as ice laden bushes melted into shimmering blobs. A magical night followed by a beautiful morning (dangerous stupidity aside).
I never played ping pong in their darkened basement with a blacklight, balls sailing through the air like a slow-motion video, but I sometimes have days that feel like that game.