Gabe-Shi-Win-Gi-Ji-Kens

Finally, after hours of waiting, they led us into the black forest. Silently we followed, wondering what would come of us, completely uninformed of the daunting tasks that lied ahead.

This is the story of our induction.

Hello Reader!

Yes, I guess my prologue would be very dramatic... But why start with anything less that what I am? I could always start with something less tasteful, such as:

Lots of stuff happened last weekend, so here goes!

or

My weekend was different... Really different...

or

*Sighs* life is a challenge, well... Except when you're eating a watermelon...

Anyway! None of those beginnings would have been as (In a word) epic. In this post I shall attempt to recap our recent endeavor, which was our lengthy and difficult induction into the O.A.. But first, we rewind to last Thursday.

Christine L. held a Monopoly party at her house. As I stated in my previous post, I am not a Monopoly player. I'll play, but I won't win. A rather sad, disheartening concept... Playing a game with the foreknowledge of your own failure. Kind of like the United States v. England game on Saturday. The poor United States soccer team hadn't played England in sixty years. Long story made shorter, England is incredible, and the U.S. has never won the World Cup before, so there chances of NOT GETTING SLAUGHTERED were pretty slim. Here's the shocking part: Though England scored a quick goal right off the bat, (Duh...) the U.S. team ended up scoring later in the game to tie it up! The game resulted in a tie, which was more or less considered an overall victory for the United States.

Anyway, where was I... That's right, Monopoly. Just like the United States soccer team, I thought I was gonna get my butt kicked before anyone really got going. Well, also like the U.S. team, I ended up surprising everyone and tying with Miguel! Which was more or less considered an overall victory by myself. :)

See? I make decent analogies. Soccer and Monopoly. And for those of you who happened to notice I just reviewed a game I never watched, I'm letting you know now that I saw replays. :) The rest of the Monopoly party was fun! Christine got Hungry Howie's pizza... With bacon bits. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL! Haha, they do that in soccer too... I decided that in attending her party, I should wear all white. This is significant because whenever I attend one of Christine's parties, I always end up doing something dangerous/risky (Last time is was jumping off of her roof... *Cough*). Wearing all white was my way of keeping myself from doing something dumb. Hahaha, and it worked...

Mom picked us up at about 10:00 P.M. from the party, at which point we were so hyped up on sugar engulfed liquids that when we got home we had no intention of going straight to bed. Thank you Mountain Dew...

Friday... Oh boy. Friday... Hmm, where to begin. Well, first of all, if you (Reader) believe you shall be informed of all the happenings which took place this passing weekend, I am very sorry and heart-wrenchingly displeased to inform you that you will not be informed of every detail. This is due to a strict code of secrecy (At least, within our council). If you wish to know a full account of the happenings, feel free to inquire me in person (As long as you aren't an eligible candidate.).

Here is an account of what I am able discuss.

At precisely 4:00 P.M., Justin, Nathan, and myself were picked up by the Woodlands for the tiresome three hour ride to Northwoods Scout Reservation. Accompanying us was Foster W. and Jacob W.. Regretfully, Mr. and Mrs. Woodland's van was not air conditioned. Foster and Jacob "called" the middle seats, which meant that Justin, Nathan, and myself would be trapped in close quarters with each other in the backseat. What happens when you condense seven uncomfortable people in a small, airless vehicle? That, dear Reader, would result in a very distasteful scent known as "sweat." For three, long, dreary hours, the seven of us were compactly grouped together in a tiny minivan (KEY WOULD BEING "MINI"). At some point, Mrs. Woodland turned on the the air conditioning (Which wasn't really air conditioning), hoping it would help with our consistent, sweating. Well, it didn't. Instead, lots of car temperature air was being blown in our faces. I silently praised the Lord when they decided to open a window.

Shortly before arriving at Northwoods, we stopped of at McDonald's to get something to eat. Let me just say, I had never seen so many employees in one McDonald's joint before. Quite honestly, there must have been about twenty +/- people on duty! One of which was giving Foster, "The look." That's something he won't pick up on until his later teens however. *Ahem* moving on. :)

Mrs. Woodland offered to pay for the three of us Hartges boys. Though my dad gave us money for the trip there and back, Mrs. W. insisted upon paying for us. Oh how I wish I wasn't so polite in times such as these!

Have you ever had someone offer to pay for something, FOR YOU, when YOU had money? I think I can speak for most people when I say it's a tiny bit awkward. I usually ask, "Are you sure? Because I have money." But if that person insists once more, then I agree to let them pay. There's no reason to go back and forth about it... So, Mrs. Woodland ended up paying for the three of us. I ordered a double cheeseburger and a McFlurry because I didn't want her to spend more than $4 on me. Justin and Nathan however took full advantage of the opportunity to get anything they wanted... Hours later, I wished I had done the same...

After we'd finished our dinner, we completed the drive to Northwoods. Mr. and Mrs. Woodland came with us to check in, but after we'd grabbed our stuff from their compact minivan, (Might I add that we were all extremely overjoyed that we needn't ride in it again...) they were gone.

The next four hours were spent sitting and waiting. We sat on the steps of the trading post with forty other Ordeal Candidates, just waiting. Eventually, they called us over to the Memorial Building for instructions. It was at this time they gave us each a wooden arrow. None of us learned the significance of the wooden arrow until Sunday morning. We were simply instructed to keep it on our person at all times. At 11:30 P.M. things got reaaaaaaaally interesting... They never fed us before taking us to the Memorial Building, which I thought was strange, but I figured they would give us something before we went down for the night. WRONG.

They grouped us into "Clans" and lined us up outside. Indian figures with torches surrounded us. We watched, but dare not speak.

Finally, after hours of waiting, they led us into the black forest. Silently we followed, wondering what would come of us, completely uninformed of the daunting tasks that lie ahead.

And that's all I can tell! Which is quite a shame because it truly was an epic tale... It was very different than I had anticipated. But I'm also pleased to say that I got so much more out of it than I thought I would. I learned a lot. AND NOW, OFFICIALLY, I AM AN ARROWMAN! I've rightfully earned my dignified and prestigious sash, as so considered by Arrowmen within the O.A. community. It was a weekend I shall never forget.

Sunday morning, all of the new Arrowmen invaded the trading post, seeking to buy collector's patches. I was among them, buying practically the ENTIRE collection of patches on display. What can I say, they're cool. :) For those who aren't members of the Order, these patches aren't available them. In addition to the O.A. patches purchased, they also gave us our official "Gabe-Shi-Win-Gi-Ji-Kens Lodge 374 flap." We only get two of these as presiding members of the order, so receiving them was exciting.

Sunday afternoon, Mrs. Whipple picked us up from NW. Allllllllllllllllll the way home, Foster played Weird Al off the stereo... Including twelve minute monologue songs by him such as "Trapped in the Drive-Thru" and "Albuquerque." When we were two blocks from home, a squirrel ran in front of Mrs. Whipple's car and she couldn't help but run it over. Directly proceeding, Foster played "Weasel Stomping Day" by Weird Al off the car's stereo. I swear, Mrs. Whipple started crying...

When the three of us got home, no one was there. Mom and Dad left a message on the answering machine telling us that they were at open houses and would be back shortly so we could all attend our cousin's open house. The three of us showered and got ready for yet another long drive to the middle of nowhere. Our cousin lives in Chesening, a small city about an hour and ten minutes from our house.

The party was mostly fun... We ended up staying from 4:00 until 9:30 P.M.. There was this really obnoxious group of teenage guys that wouldn't leave me alone though. I never said anything to them and I never looked in their direction, but they were still searching for a fight. No clue why. At one point, the leader of the group approached me and started swearing in my face. I looked at him for a split second, then walked off. I wasn't so much bothered as annoyed. Some kids can be very rude and ill mannered...

Anyway, that was Sunday. On Monday we attended a birthday party for another cousin. I hadn't eaten anything all day, so when we got to the party... Haha, I ate a large quantity of their food. Specifically their burgers. :D Uncle Steve makes spectacular burgers.

Tuesday my Mom suggested a hair cut. *_* For those of you who have been following my blog from the beginning, (Which I estimate is about three of you possibly reading this) you know that I cannot STAND haircuts. The last time I got a haircut was... Three days before PRIM and four days before the Seussical cast party. So it has been a while...

Question: Is a guy's hair too long if he can put his bangs in his mouth... ? *Cough*

Tuesday night (Last night) was my board meeting for rank advancement. According to the board members, I passed flawlessly without a needed improvement! If I may say so... Haha, I am officially six months from achieving my goal. Having recently become an Arrowman, I feel a bit more confident about my time, however crunched. We also saw Shrek 4 last night as well, which we all agreed was better than expected.

SO, today is relatively empty and uneventful. I shall be working, (Hauling cabinets) and reading later on. Who knows, maybe I'll do something fun, the weather doesn't look half bad today.

Also! I found something I wrote a while back and I'm considering posting it! Hopefully I'll get some positive responses!

Thank you for reading,

~Jacob