REAL LIFE STORY / BIG MACHINE BUCKET LIST
THE DAY I MET THE GROOMER.
I tried to pull over a snow groomer with my phone flashlight. Somehow, it worked.
LICENSE AND REGISTRATION, PLEASE.
I expected a laugh. I did not expect Nate to stop, invite me inside, and take me up a mountain in the dark.
THIS SEEMED LIKE A GREAT IDEA.
The whole thing began when I aimed my phone flashlight at the groomer like police lights and jokingly asked for license and registration. I never thought he would stop. Then Nate invited me inside—and only after we started climbing did I realize I had gotten into a groomer with a strange man who was taking me up a mountain in the dark.
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED.
Nate turned out to be wonderful, the snow groomer became the first official entry on my Big Machine Bucket List, and the conversation somehow traveled from Bigfoot sightings to an evil shriek, a possible Skinwalker, and my firm belief that mermaids could absolutely be real.
Sometimes the best stories begin when you say yes. Nailed it.