I pulled into the Harn Homestead for another company outing. The site was quiet, clean, and very peaceful. I strolled casually around the grounds observing the various buildings until I got to the barn at which we were congregating.
A few people had already arrived and were checking out the grounds and enjoying the day. Tammy arrived soon after with the food and the beverages. Like a moth to a flame, the programmers went straight to the beer cooler in an attempt to get the party started. I was able to remind most of them that there is no liquor until the Harn Homestead is officially closed for the day. I even had to put one of the guys in an anaconda choke hold until he submitted.
The festivities started harmlessly. We checked out some of the “old timey” games provided like hoop-n-stick and stilts. My understanding was that the goal was to smack the hoop with a stick and keep it rolling. I guess this was like playing Nintendo back in the day.
Some of the guys made their way over to the stilts to practice their carnival walking. It started harmlessly enough with the small falls that come from learning to walk on stilts. However things got interesting when some people decided to have a race and walk up stairs. One of the guys stumbled and started a head first dive onto what appeared to be someone’s collection of broken glass that they brought to show off. Since the falling party was working on one of my projects, I decided that I had to quickly use my wizard powers to redirect his fall so that he landed on a mountain of pillows that I just conjured. Crisis averted.
As I rested to recover the energy I spent saving a life, the group started tossing around the football. I kept a careful eye just in case another emergency was to call for me. Whilst doing so, hunger started to call. I was far too tired and clearly I could not abandon my post to go man the grill. Thus I broke into one of the weaker minds at the party and planted the suggestion to go and start grilling. Lo and behold, he got up and headed straight for the grill….burger time was on the way!
As I watched the football match and anxiously awaited the seared vittles, I noticed the women were starting to drift over towards a trailer. I stood up and noticed there was a horse tied to the trailer and as we all know, women love horses. Maybe I was being mean or just a bit cheeky, but I decided to send a suggestion to the horse. I gave the vision to the horse that a guy with a brand was standing behind it. The horse immediately started kicking the trailer and screams of panic filled the air as women scattered everywhere.
Luckily the food was coming off the grill at this time, so the women were easily calmed and the guys took a break from the football game. With full bellies and a nice evening under the stars, some of the party goers curled up and started to sleep. Perhaps it was the peacefulness of the Harn Homestead or perhaps they were lightweights when it comes to beer, either way it was a good evening to rest outside.
Since it was almost time to go, I summoned a small shower to wake the sleepy heads up so we had a few more people for the cleanup crew. We packed up our leftovers and cleaned up our trash before heading over to thank the Harn Homestead staff for having us. They thanked us for coming and said we were quite possibly the best guests they have ever had.
All in all it was a good outing. The Harn Homestead had plenty of room for us to gallivant around and goof off. Nobody got hurt, everyone got fed, and even the kiddos had a good time. It was definitely a place we could return to and enjoy another company outing.
