Another case of sunshine after the rain, 14 hashers, 2 hares and a dog met up in the picturesque Cambounet-sur-le-Sor for the annual Sweet Pea & IP hash, pool party & pizza. As expected the experienced hares pushed away the hashers without any clues to which direction to take. Eventually we found our way, passing through a picturesque and peaceful village (well peaceful until we shouted ‘On On’) and then across rolling hills and fields surrounded by vineyards, farm land and a stunning horse stables. Who would have believed that there had been a huge storm the night before………….then came the shiggy and lots of it. A rocky uphill track was made more challenging by shiggy and rain water making it more slippy, more tiring and more worrying that it would never end..
….and then we saw two letters, two letters that we hadn’t seen painted in flour for quite a while. It was a B and an S…………a few more metres, and then a shiny Renault Clio appeared as if a mirage in the desert. Surprisingly the walkers were there first by quite a margin and it was getting close to the wire of the walkers drinking all of the beers before the last runners arrived. But no, we were nice and made sure they had what they needed to continue the rest of the trail
As mentioned earlier, the hares know what they are doing and they know how to set a challenge. The beer stop was at a multi-direction crossroads with no visible markings to give us a clue of which way to go. So with the group splitting up and starting to walk the obvious trails (i.e. the road in both directions) but it was made clear to us that the trail could be in ANY direction. Again some hashers took to the woods or even across a crop-laden field but still to no avail. Then it hit us, how can we have been so silly…………..we got back the way we came and what we found was that actually the trail did have another direction that we didn’t even consider because we were so distracted by the letters B & S
So off we go, back the way we came, then a right turn down a hill, more shiggy, a lake, a damn, some bridges and then the home straight – unless you’re Shirt Shift and Glory Hole who mis-interpreted a check and began walking up a long hill in the opposite direction to the On In. Nonetheless, all hashers made it back to base to be welcomed by a fresh swimming pool, cold beers, some spicy peppers and anchovies as well as the usual potato-based snacks. A good, long and relaxing pre-circle apéro was enjoyed with some cooling off in the pool whilst the rest watched in awe of Swinging Down Under trying to mount an inflatable dolphin
In the circle the hares were given an instant thumbs up for their haring organisation which included extremely well marked directions, using generous amounts of flour to ensure its not washed away by any remaining rain water or eaten by animals, but also for including a beer stop on the route, which had become a distant memory of many of us. Hash Hymn sheets were distributed to the group and for each reward or punishment an appropriate song was selected. We welcomed a virgin Peihui who was made to come by Cheesy Lollipop and Just Weili said that he has really enjoyed the hash, even close to becoming the FRB at a few points – hopefully we will see him again soon. Five hashers, including one of the hares, were punished for hash clothing violations – including Just Weili, who despite wearing a hash T-shirt, was punished for cleaning her shoes post-hash going against the mantra of the hash.
Another naming was on the cards with Just Weili stepping into the centre of the circle. With our RA conducting the ceremony, SDU led the naming ideas with interesting names like ‘Sweating Inside’ (a nod to something that was discussed in the apéro), and Hot and Spicy. Other names included TMI (for Too Much Information) based on Cheesy Lollipop’s suggestion that Weili often goes into too much detail about things in their private lives. Other names of similar themes continued but after a vote by the circle, the name TMI was selected and so now Just Weili becomes TMI
