"We'll Getcha Started the Midwestern Way!"

The next morning I heard the guys get up and leave for work at about six. They were supposed to come over and wake me up but I guessed they forgot. I went back to sleep, somewhat forlorn that I wouldn't see them again.
But luckily, I was wrong! They came back around 9, just as I was finishing my oatmeal. "You're back!" I called, as confused as I was pleasantly surprised.
"Yeah, we came back to make breakfast! We usually leave early to get started and beat the heat, then come back for a meal."

Beat the heat? It was 67 degrees and slightly windy. And here I was in my jeans and sweatshirt while they tooled around in shorts and tee-shirts, ever the natives.
"You're gonna have some breakfast with us, right?"
I hadn't planned on it.
"Oh, nonsense! Oatmeal won't cut it. You gotta get some eggs and sausage into you if gonna be out hiking later."

While Bob flipped hickory sausage in a pan on the single-burner stove, Arlen wrestled with Cole, a younger member of the team. The old man took the boy down easily, and it was funny to see such an old guy get so physical. Arlen saw me laughing and said, "I'm pretty good for an old leatherneck!"
"A what?"
"Leatherneck. From workin' outdoors. The back of our necks get tough like leather."
"Oh! Where I'm from, we call them 'rednecks'!"
Apparently, that was the funniest thing he'd ever heard. He threw his head back and laughed, then ran over to Dean's camper to tell him, "She said they call us 'rednecks'!"

Dean came out of the camper with a carton of eggs and a pot of coffee. "I know I am. That's fine with me."
"You don't think it's a derogatory term?" I asked him.
"No! It's what I am! I have my working TV on top of my non-working TV -- it makes a good shelf!"
I thought about Richard, who I'd met last summer. "When I was in Arkansas last year I met a guy who said, 'You can call me a hillbilly, you can call me a mountain man, you can call me whatever you want, just don't call me a redneck!' He thought it was a bad word now that Jeff Foxworthy made all rednecks sound stupid."
Dean laughed. "I really don't care what people call me because I don't care what people think!"
Redneck or no, that's a man speaking.

Breakfast was ready and we all took seats at the picnic table, before a spread of eggs, cheese, milk, sausage, coffee and homemade banana bread that Dean's wife had sent. "We'll getcha started the Midwestern way!" they bragged. Arlen said grace, taking off his hat and saying, "Good Lord, we thank you for this food, this beautiful day, the chance to spend another day in your grace and for the company. We pray that you will keep us safe in our work and our travels, in Jesus' name, Amen."
"Arlen's also a preacher," Bob told me.
"Yeah, it's my side job," he chimed in.

As we ate, they explained North Dakota weather. "The wind always blows 'round here. I think if the wind stopped blowing every person in North Dakota would fall over 'cause they're so used to walking into the wind."

Somehow we got on the subject of bears and Bob gave me this warning: "You know how you can tell the difference between black bears and grizzlies? It's by their droppings. You've heard how you're supposed to carry mace and little bells around your neck to scare off the grizzlies right? Well, when you're near the bears you'll know it by their droppings. The black bear's droppings are about yea big (he motioned with his hands) and the grizzlies' droppings are about yea big (he motioned larger) and have little pieces of brass bells in them and smell like pepper!"
I totally fell for it, hanging on his every word until the very end, when I realized I'd been completely had! The guys all cracked up at my face, nearly falling off the bench.

When the eggs had been polished off and the sausage was gone, it was time for them to get back to work. They politely posed for a picture and wished me well as they climbed into their trucks. They honked and waved as they drove away, calling out, "You be safe now!"

I didn't get their numbers, I barely got their names. But they made an impression I won't soon forget.