We all hear or use this phrase, “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”  Phrases like this find use repeatedly without overuse.  I have two repetitive phrases like that one that are near and dear to me:

 

1.                    “This Rock is almost comfortable.”

2.                    “It all goes the same place.”

 

These recurring phrases have livened up my camping and backpacking trips for some time now.

 

The first sentence is very specific in meaning and limited in application, but still fits the situation often.  As a rest stop is taken on a boulder along a trail, “This rock is almost comfortable.”

 

Imagine you are sitting around a backcountry campfire with several of your backpacking companions.  You have lugged heavy packs for miles on rough trails.  Now, tents have been set up, and you can relax.  You each found your own rock, large enough to your butt off the damp ground and dragged it to a place near the campfire.  You are sharing adventure stories and jokes back and forth.  Then, in a deadpan voice, you say, “This rock is almost comfortable.”

 

The second repetitive phrase in my life has many uses, seemingly unrelated to each other.

 

A fellow hiker asks you, “Which trail do we take at the fork?”

 

You reply, “Take either one. It all goes the same place.”

 

At mealtime, a friend asks, “How can you let your gravy spill over onto your vegetables?”

 

Your answer, “It all goes the same place.”

 

And so on, “Where do you want you canteen put in your pack?”

 

“It all goes the same place.”

 

Therefore, as I age and think about final affairs I want my headstone to include, “This rock is almost comfortable.”

 

Concerning the hereafter, I hope “it all goes the same place.”

 

          -- Bob Kuhns