What's next? I'll tell you what's next, Vermont and the Rheostatics. That's what's next.
This past week I had two more experiences that got me thinking about my ever dwindiling youth.
First it was my good buddy Phil's stag weekend. As a tradition we've always "kidnapped" our friends, crammed a beer into their hands, stuffed them into a rented min-van and taken them away on a weekend filled with fun and fueled with booze. As groomsmen or just as friends we decide on a location, work with the wife-to-be to set the dates and make sure all the work arrangements are taken care of, then we show up unexpectedly and steal our friend away for the weekend. I've been the recipient of said bachelor weekend (and there is a naked picture of me floating around in the general population there because of it) and I've been the kidnapper many times aswell. We've been all over Canada and the US and we have the stories and scars to prove it. I think this was our seventh bachelor weekend.
This particular time we showed up at Phil's door grabbed him, shot down the 401, took a quick right at Le Belle Province and moved into the Green Mountain State....
Vermont for the uninitiated...to do some skiing and drink some beers. 
Absolutely nothing went wrong. Everything went off with out a hitch and it was a great weekend for all parties involved. Even Carlos Delgado made an apperance. The sun shined,
the beer flowed
and no one got hurt. Not every bachelor weekend has gone so well. But those are other stories for other times.
What I wanted to discuss was although this weekend was a resounding success and I had a great time, I still feel a little sadness at the passing of this weekend. For after Phil, there isn't many more of us to continue this tradition. He was one of the last to get married. There may be one or two more of these weekends down the road, but after that, this chapter of our lives is over. We'll all be married. All of us.
Over the past decade I've seen all my friends gradually get older, move out of their childhood homes, into bachelor pads, into marriage and now many of them are starting families of their own. It's been great and I'm exceedingly happy for all of them. But I still can't help but feel saddend when I think that this portion of our lives is now over and all we have left are the pictures and the memories.
I guess that's just life. But what a good life it's been.
The second experience I had this week was watching the Rheostatics last live performance at Massey Hall in Toronto. That's right, the most Canadian of all bands has hung up their guitars for good. On the lonely darkened stage of Massey Hall, along with a cardboard cutout of Wendel Clark and a pair of worn out old brown goalie pads, the Rheostatics said goodbye to their legion of loyal fans.
I wasn't always a fan of the Rheo's. I can still remember seeing and hearing them for the first time at a concert in North Bay when they opened for the Tragically Hip. I was much younger at the time, 16 maybe 17 and I didn't understand their music. I mean it's not really the most accessable music out there. Their songs make sudden and drastic shifts and the structures are not exactly a good fit for main stream radio. At the time I just didn't "get it". But as I got older and I listened to them more and more, they grew on me and I started to understand the music.
Now many of my memories of the past ten years have been painted with a light coat of Rheostatics music. Certain songs instantly bring back memories from my past. And now that's it. They are gone. No more Fall Nationals at the Horseshoe.
Anyhoo, I loved the show and I was glad I was their to help say goodbye to one of my favourite bands. Just getting to hear Northern Wish live one more time was woth it. It was great. But the best part of the night was after each song the crowd heartily applauded. But it wasn't so much applause as it was a gushing wave of gratitude. You could just feel it. Each hand clap was a last attempt at a thank you for the twenty years of music and showmanship the Rheo's given us.
What's next?
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