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A movie is being shot in a room where I'm attempting to catch some sleep. I pile into the scene and curl up into the corner out of the way. The director, not expecting my presence, takes a liking to my spontaneous part. Cecily's motherly nurturing side comes out and she wraps her arms around me. Even though nothing's really wrong with me I continue with my role. The scene is over and everybody leaves...
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I have a small bag of mushroom-shaped glass reminiscent to the pigmented glass bongs you'd smoke weed out of. Inside of these are encased psychedelic mushrooms that are supposedly worth about $1000. None of it makes any sense especially the reason why I have these in my possession. I'm scheduled to meet with someone to hand them over. With two buddies of mine by the bank of a lake. We grab a canoe and attempt to paddle to an island made of parachute material. The canoe fails. And now some people are after me desperately trying to steal these mushrooms back. I'm running in and out of alleyways of what's understood to be Blacksburg. I manage to creep inside a barn where African animals are housed. A gang of monkeys and baboons surround me. One of them grabs my arm. A couple pre-teen girls, understood to be the drug lord's daughters (the ones who are after me), have found me and force me to hand over the mushrooms. It turns into a less hostile situation when the older one takes a liking to me – we start kissing and I pretend to be her age – pretending to be in love for the first time.
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At 10:32 a.m. I officially open my eyes to the ominous steeple of the church next door watching over me through the trapezoid shaped windows. Mango, the cat with a cow coat hops up on the bed and vies for affection.
Getting brunch at Gillie's across the street. We just missed breakfast but I make do with an amazing Focaccia Pizza with Salmon, Mushrooms, and Spinach. Will claims to have a hollow leg where his body stores all the insane amounts of food he consumes.
It's hiking for us today. We drive on the windy-squiggly back roads littered with farmhouses, cows, and silos. We encounter a pasture of alpacas down at the bottom of the slope, not something any of us expected to find here, but there they are with their puffy camel-like faces and funny-looking features.
At the hike site. Our destination: Dragon's Tooth. It's about a 5-mile hike up the mountain roundtrip. It intersects with the Appalachian Trail. Some parts are still snowy and muddy, and other parts are dry and rocky. It's challenging and rewarding.
Ana's Pochohantas Theme:
We reach the top of the peak of Dragon's Tooth, a collection of long jagged rock formations standing proudly at the highest point of the mountain. Climbing atop the rocks – nourishing ourselves with homemade Granola bars and various fruits and snacks. A fellow hiker we meet is in the progress of walking the whole trail – he started in Georgia and hopes to finish in Maine. We offer him one of the granola bars for sustenance. Will and I manage to reach the highest point on the cliffs. Feeling strong gusts of wind that make you feel like you could fly off at any moment. Will points out that just being up here and knowing that just one false move could send you plummeting to your death "really makes you feel alive". I couldn't agree more.
While catching our breath and relaxing on the rocks we come up with the silly idea to film our rendition of 127 Hours with Will getting his arm stuck in a crevice and being forced to cut off his arm with a pocket knife.
We make it back to the car in one piece and with our spirits rejuvenated.
Dinner at The Cellar, a crowded dark-lit basement bar. Getting Black Bean Gyros with Curly Fries. Sharing some kind of dark ale with Will and James.
Back at the cathouse for special brownies, haircuts, and card games. Going through the photos with the Photo Council as we like to call the process of going through the pictures, deleting the unworthy moments, and keeping the cherished ones.
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I had a little piece of the special brownies but I wasn't expecting to be affected by it in any real way. Later, I feel it creep up on me after Becca finishes cutting my hair.
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Cuddling with Ana on the air mattress Becca provided for us. James is sleeping on the couch next to us. We giggle for 30 minutes straight at every noise and move he makes on the couch. We can't control it. She had one of the brownies too. We keep saying silly things to each other and acting humorously paranoid about the cats.
[i] All images by me or Ana.
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