Some nights I feel like a wuss. It's chilly outside, so I sit home instead of going out to follow the Arroyo Mocho for a few miles. Or I take a drive instead of heading to the gym. Or I just sit and watch bowl games...
But just when I start to feel the weight of winter settle on my shoulders, a cool spark sets off a small, warm fire in my head. Out come the maps. All those trails and summits I haven't started or finished are back on The Calendar. Kearsarge Pass, Mt. Williamson, a 100 - mile or longer roll over a TBD setting, and my ultimate, Kilimanjaro - all are on the table again. Because every one of them will happen, if I have to live to 110 to get 'em done.
Being another year older in just a few days isn't at all worrisome. Nothing's changed. The hair's still grey, knowledge of 60' rock 'n roll undiminished, fire still burning. Heck, I might just start rolling New Year's Day until I feel like stopping - perhaps in March. A little bit of the Forrest Gump thing. But these are the dreams, the dares to myself that keep me going through the winter.
And with every mile, every turn, every hill (both up & down) my existence is reaffirmed. It's nice..no, make that giddy..to know I can still do this stuff and not even breathe hard while doing it. This world is the most wonderful test of mortality that could have been devised; Dante himself couldn't hold my jock, as the old saying used to go. 2011 is going to be a trend setter and exquisitely satisfying if all I do is head to a quiet hillside to listen to the birds. But I have this buzz in my ear that this will be the year for resetting the benchmarks I built a few years ago. If only there were corporate sponsors! I need a publicist, an agent....I coulda been somebody, I coulda been a contendah!
I hope and pray that you're taking this winter to dream, to make some plans. After all, tomorrow is a gift - say "thank you" and do with it all that you can. And let's talk - I might need some company if I'm going to roll a hundred miles....
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