No "Heroes"

Last night being Monday night meant the “drive thru” (it is actually called “drive by” here, but for me that makes no sense) dinner so everyone can take their hot dogs and hamburgers along with the rest of the dinner with them to watch Monday Night Football. The kitchen has instituted drive thru Monday night dinner, and yesterday was the first time that everyone was in camp to attend the dinner. Since it is a “drive thru”, no one is allowed to eat in the dining hall. Some folks do take there dinners to the television room to watch the game. Other folks, like me, take their food to one of the picnic tables. The weather was quite nice last night, and I enjoyed sitting outside with my friends eating my garden burger and Boca sausage. We sat at the base of the hill and ate in a very tranquil setting. Someone commented about how it really didn’t feel like prison. This was a very interesting comment as it doesn’t feel like a traditional prison. I have encountered these prisons on my journey, and I consider myself blessed by being here at fire camp. There are so many benefits here at fire camp, and the last four months have flown by. I certainly would rather be having dinner with my family having dinner, but this is not an option for me currently. I will return to them a much better husband and father than I have ever been. There isn’t any reason for me to lament my current station in life, which is why I am grateful for everything in my life.

Dinner was over and a few of my friends went to watch the game. I had not desire to watch it, so I remained outside talking with my roommate. We talked about respective journeys through the California prison system. We shared a great deal of similarities in our experiences, mostly centered around food and finding our way. I must say we both did a good job and have ended up in the same place. This goes to my “there are no coincidences in life.” I am very fortunate to have found my roommate, and laughter is, indeed, a great elixir. We do spend most of our time laughing, which is a far cry for the both of us from when we first started this journey. As we were talking, I discovered my roommate like the television program “Heroes” which I, too, started watching in Jamestown. As fate would have it, yesterday was the season premier for “Heroes”; however, the people here at the camp don’t share our enthusiasm as it was not shown. Oh well, I guess I will have to catch up on the episodes when I am released in five-plus months. Instead, we were able to read a copy of a current USA Today newspaper. Finding current, especially the same day, newspapers is a rare occurrence, so I relished reading this newspaper. After discussing certain articles, it was time to turn in for the evening.

There are a few early risers in the new dorm that start off with an alarm clock alarm at 4:30 a.m. I force myself to say in bed for the next 30 minutes and then start my day. The temperature wasn’t nearly as cold as it had been, but was still a lovely early morning. I did get a great workout, and it was on to start the workday.

For the most part my days are very similar, and there are certain events which happen in camp that I really pay no attention to. It is only when these events affect me that I do pay attention. Today, one of these events happened, and it was very reminiscent to when I first arrived. One of the inmates was caught drinking alcohol. The logical question would be how did he obtain alcohol in this setting? I don’t have the answer, but many of my fellow inmates are very resourceful, and if they want something bad enough, they will get it. Obviously, this is against the rules, and the inmate was rolled up (sent back to regular prison). The punishment does not stop there. Since it was alcohol, the entire camp has been punished, and the punishment is the recreation area has been shut down for the next three days. The recreation area consists of the television room, billiard room, hobby (wood crafts) room, weight area, hill, and track. I could care less about most of these areas, but the closing of the track and hill for the next three days does affect me. Running is my morning ritual, and I just started to get into a good groove; however, this is part of my powerlessness as I have no control over this event, and gratefully, I do accept this. I do want to do the right thing, so I will ask before doing my exercising. It really only comes down to the next two days, and if I have to sleep in over the next two days, so be it!! Acceptance is wonderful.