Because We Can

This is my best friend. It's an ammo can. I got it in 1993 when I got a job as a river guide with ECHO. Ammo cans are ideal waterproof carrying cases. They are designed to keep your ammunition dry, so why not other stuff? 

Wikipedia explains an "Ammunition Box or cartouche box is a container designed for safe transport and storage of ammunition. It is typically made of metal and labelled with caliber, quantity, and manufacturing date or lot number. A rubber gasket is commonly found in the hinged lid to protect the ammunition from moisture damage.

The resealing ammunition box is largely a NATO tradition. Warsaw Pact nations typically stored and transported ammunition in single-use "spam cans". They had crates that had a sealed zinc lining on the inside. In World War II, Duct tape was used to seal opened ammo cans.
 (Ammunition Box, Wikipedia, 2008)

So that's kinda cool right? My best friend is a war hero. It is also MY hero as it has kept the contents of my personal life safe and dry for 22 years. I know it seems weird but I love my can. It never lives far from me and has a lot of important stuff in it. It keeps my secrets, knows what I need when I need it and protects the photo of my beloved. 

Over the years, it has filled up. The can of a young woman is far different from that of an old one. In my younger days, it carried a book, my headlamp, toothbrush/toothpaste, hairbrush, razor, deoderant, some kind of greasy hand lotion to keep my skin from cracking, sunscreen, sunglasses, a thermarest repair kit, a walkman, a nut driver tool and a pair of channel locks. I also kept a typed copy of "The Lorax" by Dr. Seuss in there. I liked to read it on river trips to remind people how important it is to take care of rivers and the wilderness and how easily we can become disconnected from our outdoor world. Of course, as a young woman, I also carried multiple forms of birth control. Let's face it. The river is a pretty romantic place...and my boyfriend was a river guide too. No way would I be caught without.

On commercial river trips, we left the river's shore early. My can would be tied down last as we pulled away from the river's shore. I had about six or seven carabiners clipped to the handle. It was a handy, accessible spot for whenever I needed to clip a waterbottle to my boat or someone's personal dry bag. It's always good to have carabiners around when you wrap a raft so their empty presence on my lid was almost homage to the force that kept me from actually wrapping. Generally, when we got on the river, I would have a little coffee left. I would bring it and row and when my coffee cup was empty, I'd clip the handle of my mug to the handle of my can. They were symbiotic partners, unique to my setup, representing and taking care of me on the river. 

The contents of a girls' ammo can is pretty personal as you can see and you didn't want just anyone getting into it, which is precisely why I wallpapered it with identifying stickers. We didn't have too many skiers on our crew so it was pretty obvious which can was mine. I'm proud that I have a U.S. Ski Team sticker from 1993 (my first year guiding) and one from 1988 (my last year ski racing). They remain on my can reminding me of good times in far away lands where the snow falls deep and light and the jagertee flows free. A few former product sponsor stickers also don the sides. Marker bindings, Bolle sunglasses, Lange boots. There's a "Carving the White" sticker which was a Greg Stump production that I did some ski footage for. Of course, there's an ECHO sticker just in case someone wonders which dumbass river guide lost her can off the gear truck.....The big dogs sticker represents the only pair of shorts I like to wear on the river, fast-drying and covering all my crucial girl parts while I'm high-siding in some hole that has managed to grab my boat and take me for a rodeo ride. Truthfully, I was hoping for sponsorship but exposure is simply not the same. 

Inside my can is a collection of items that would probably clutter the corners of my life, but in my can they represent an important snapshot of my time on the river. Each item had, and still has, a purpose. I've taken the birth control pills out and replaced them with cancer meds and vitamins. I keep a condom in there for my young guide friends who find themselves without one on day 3. It's really just a good luck charm but occasionally, you get to make someone's day. It also bumps my street cred in the guide community. At my age, I need all the help I can get. I have reading glasses, 2 pairs, in my can. One to wear, one to drop in the river. I have two lights, a headlamp and a booklight because I can't see anything anymore thanks to too many birthdays. The brush, the razor and the deoderant have all come out because I really don't care what my hair looks like under my hat and the river washes away much of the stench before bedtime. I can count on my 13 year-old to bring all that stuff now which frees up some space for more important items. I suppose if I were working, I'd care a little more (for the guest's  sake), but we Robinsons try to reconnect with our inner dirtbag on our river trips and being one on the outside helps that process along nicely. The walkman is replaced by an iPod shuffle. Handy size reduction frees up more space for other fun stuff like glow sticks or a deck of "Cards Against Humanity." Other stuff remains inside like my Leatherman tool, nut driver tool, channel locks, pocket knife (super sharp), and AAA batteries (replacing the extra AA batteries for my new headlamp). The Lorax is still there as is a photo on the inside of the lid of my half-sister who came down the river about 17 years ago. She was Stella's age at the time. She has three kids now. I open the lid and I am reminded of not just my youth but hers and the life my daughters have ahead of them. I hope they find the river before I did and it shapes them in even more meaningful ways than it did me.

Soon we will embark on that time-honored tradition of buying their first can and filling it once again with the acoutrements of a young river girl, wallpapering it with stickers of the day to keep the contents private. I'm imagining soccer balls and surfboards, and shuddering at the idea of my girls being grown up enough to need the stuff I once filled my can with.

When I'm off of the river the can sits in my closet, calling out to me that it's time to go back, just like an old friend. I keep it packed and ready just in case friends call and tell me they just got their Grand Canyon permit and a spot opened up for me to row a gearboat, tomorrow,  a river guide's dream. I can be ready in minutes. Looking forward to more adventures ahead with my ammo can. I might have to replace a gasket or add some stickers to balance the anachronism. Until then. We wait. And pray for rain and snow.