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The Tale of the Trail

The Chicago Full Moon Hash 1/23/08 by Horn-E

 

    It snowed. It would get cold. But Pegleg still came in from Batavia or somewhere near there. I love running Spell Check after writing these. Pegleg comes out as Piglet. Happy Ass Grabber had some good stuff planned. Or G and I rounded out this small pack. Cold. Screw the f*cking cold. Someone check in on your Senior Citizens like Horn-E. Oh, screw him. He's out staying young by running and playing in the freezing snow while all of the couch potatoes are warm and safe at home watching Wife Swap, Super Nanny or some realty show that isn't. This is reality. Live it. Hash.

    Happy Ass Grabber showed us his first mark and it was covered in snow. We had to look close. So he decided to sweep the whole trail instead of branching off and setting a beer stop. And the potential beer stop was real cool. Cold too. But more on that later.

    We took off to the south and almost missed the first covered mark. But surprisingly, the marks weren't impossible after that. The first Split had me finding trail to the east. I waited until I saw the pack behind me and ran to a Check. But the only reason I saw the Check was because I couldn't find a trail mark. It was way off to the side. We eventually found the trail straight south and Or G took the lead, down an alley, a big loop, and so the trail went. We made one turn only to find that there were no marks anywhere. Even Happy Ass Grabber  was confused. He finally figured out that the marks were shoveled away and we turned one block to soon. Here the hare nailed me in a loop and we headed south. We eventually worked ourselves to the west. We came to this one field full of virgin snow. We followed footprints. Then the footprints ended. Did the hare float out of there? No. The sneaky bastard followed his footsteps backwards to the alley and made a big loop along this building and over to Lake Street. We were scattered looking for marks. Or G was in the alley. I eventually found his footprints and was following them as Pegleg ranged and found the marks. Pegleg then ran us through the local projects. Very pretty here with all of these blue lights high up on poles and flashing. And there were so many squad cars driving around that I was wondering who reported us and for what. We finally ran through a playground and between these close fences and to a Check. As we scattered, I headed north along the sidewalk, following footprints. But they turned the wrong way. I crossed the street and that side walk didn't have any footprints either. I checked the alley and nothing. Finally the hare came over and pointed out a tiny red mark in the alley that had been run over by many cars. Now here we might have gotten lost without a sweep. We ran off down the alley and it was all Pegleg as FRB from here on in. We came to the tracks and the trail and footprints climbed up a weed covered wall. Here is where I drew blood as I slipped and banged my ankle. It isn't an official hash until someone draws blood and this hash deserves to be called official. If only so we can persecute the hare in the circle. The trail then headed north, over a trestle and finally back down through the weeds and burrs the size of golf balls. We wandered a few more streets weaving our selves back north and east. Finally we ran down this street that rose up to tracks. Here is where the beer stop should have, would have been. Cool. A Metra train was going by through the flames. Yes, flames. The tracks were on fire everywhere. This section was full of switches and every switch had about 20 feet of flames about a foot high burning next to them to keep the switches operable in the zero temps. Smelled like kerosene. And beyond the flames rose the city downtown area and a Full Moon above. Another great scene viewed on a Full Moon Hash. But we didn't have beer. How would the hare make up for this? Well, here is where he ran out of flour so he just led us north on Western to a bar called the Blind Robin. A little gem in this run down area with some real great beer on tap and bottles. Happy Ass Grabber bought us a round of Two Brothers French Trappist Ale. Damn, that was good. It was a good thing that there were only four of us or he would have had to get a loan from the bank. That or buys us PBR. I could have sat there for another fifteen minutes drinking nursing that pint, but all beer stops have an end and we were off to the J & M Tap to circle up. Many excuses for down downs and Pegleg missed his train. But Or G finally had enough beer that he drove Pegleg downtown and me home. A great night and we don't care about no stinking cold. We are hashers and we throw on another layer and just do it.