Searching For Lost Traveler’s Checks

On Wet Lawn Chairs Drinking Beer
June ’77

Up with the sun, errrr, I mean fog, I went to look for my traveler's
checks and on my way back to the canteen, I met Herb. He wanted
to help me search, so the two of us retraced my
steps back to the canteen. Just as I reached the canteen, on the
shoulder of the road, I found my black checkbook lying in the weeds.
Herb got all excited and wanted me to celebrate with him by having a
beer back at his campsite. I agreed, and followed him down a logging
trail, where we came to a camper. His family was still asleep. We sat
down in wet lawn chairs with our beers in hand. If it weren't for the
fact that I had found my lost money, that morning would have gone down
as the gloomiest in history. The mist was so thick, you got wet
through osmosis, not rain.

Herb and his family-- wife, three boys, and a daughter, were on their
way to a Pow Wow in Yarmouth. After our second beer, I found myself
searching my head for reasons not to take Herb up on his offer. He
wanted me to throw my bike in the back of his truck, hop on the back
of his motorcycle, and go with him and his family down to the Pow Wow.
By then he was already drinking the coffee that his wife had handed
him (he had had a few beers before he met me) and his 17 year-old
son was working on both of Herb's motorcycles. After the
Pow Wow he promised to take me all the way to Turo, which
was another hundred miles up the coast. He lived on the Micmack
Indian Reservation, which was not far from Turo.

It all sounded too good to be true. I really wanted to go to an
authentic Pow Wow, but my past experience with Indians, especially the
Montana debacle, where my drinking buddy deliberately ran over me with
his truck, made me think twice about spending time with Indians and
alcohol again. But, I told myself this had to be different. After all,
this was a whole family of Indians, a family that sported two new 750
cc Honda s, and an almost new camper. That had to say something about
responsible behavior. I mean accumulating possessions took money and
that usually meant you had to be able to handle responsibilities.
Anyway, I said to myself, "nothing ventured, nothing gained," as I
told Herb, "sure, I'll go with you back to Yarmouth!"