GFH3 Run #1,696; 8 May 2013

We must be brave, and face some facts.  This hash is not much good at following directions, finding trails, or, often, running.  It is also kind of lousy at adjusting to change.  Every year, when we switch from Saturdays to Wednesdays, and every year when we switch back again, we get a week or two of light attendance and a couple dozen people pulling up the website two days late to the realization -- d'oh -- they missed it.  Add a light drizzle from cloudy skies, and you get 19 people, the true hash elite, showing up in Reston for what may be (oh, woe) our last hash from Bobby, Lust in Space and Put Away Wet's place.

Hares in the rain, wondering what's happened to the hounds.

That's right, along with deep confusion over the trail markings (Put Away Wet:  "The X's mean... 'Don't... go here.'"), which sent Chip Off the Old Dick back onto trail to sweep at about 8:00pm, we got the frightful news that the Wet family is decamping to New England, trading their townhouse for acres of pasturage and horses.  This is what comes of this government budget-cutting:  people get tempted with early retirement offers, and whoosh.  They're off to the mountains.

In this case, they're off with a bang, or at least a loud plop, as the rain (PAW and COtOD got caught in a thunderstorm while setting in the afternoon) turned the ground to super-slippery clay that gave the hashers a bit of trouble.  But there was more trouble from the trail itself; Rrocks Starr actually phoned in for help at a point where the pack could find nothing but Xs, and got a rescue mission from LiS.  Even once put right, they couldn't stay right, and spent way longer out in the gloaming than their hares expected.

So the pizza got cold, but what's cold pizza?  No one cares if the pizza's cold!  And the beer was already cold, and the beverages, both adult and not-so, were plentiful, and the tarpaulin protecting the wood floors allowed everyone to relax.  And Bobby showed us his new saddle, which was made in England.  Tactfully, no one told the pack Phoenix Rising's explanation for why he had no trouble with the trail markings while the rest of the hash had nothing but trouble:  "They're stupid.  I'm not."

You don't need to be careful coming down the hill if there's a beer cooler at the bottom (to stop your slide).

The Mufti is still feeling a bit beat (and beaten up by his physical therapist, sadly), so he didn't join us, though one hears rumors of cane-assisted mobility.  Maybe next week.  The Associate Mufti was watching other people exercise over by the Navy Yard.  That means I, entrusted with the official roll for the second time this lifetime, called the count.  Don made double 1s, and Lori double 6s, and everyone cheered like crazy for the Wet family.  PAW actually claims she will still be visiting, as company hq is here, but what about LiS?  And Bobby?  Oh, Bobby.  We will miss you terribly.

But we'll be able to write, phone and visit as we have updated contact info in the hash directory!  That's right, I'm updating the directory all day every day, in preparation for distributing paper and e-copies at the Anniversary Hash, which will take place... someday.  Probably in June.  So please see me the next time you see me and double-check that, unlike Rrocks Starr, we don't have a seriously outdated work phone  number listed for you.

Oh, and sign up to host, would you please?  We need a hero next week, although the May slots are going fast.  This is clearly the most...

Click here if you'd like to see more blurry pictures.

FORGOT TO MENTION!!  GHANARRHEA (really, the things you people come up with) IS VISITING IN JUNE AND NEEDS A PLACE TO STAY.  If you can offer him a bed, couch or pile of dirty laundry in the corner of the basement for the night(s) of Monday 24 June, Tuesday 25 June, Wednesday 26 June or any combination thereof, he promises not to review your guest room harshly on Yelp.  Please let the Mufti or me know if you can be hospitable.