Mountains, both physical and metaphorical, have been on my mind a lot recently.
I have started doing endurance training, even if its just a little bit. The book that inspired me to get off my butt is titled Training For The New Alpinism: A Manual For The Climber As Athlete. The book is full of photos of people scaling precarious peaks with nothing but rope and their gear on their backs. I am unlikely to do alpine style climbing but I am more than willing to do grueling hikes to camp on top of mountains, however.
This book was found entirely by chance. I was looking in the outdoor/nature section at Barnes and Noble over the holidays. I noticed this massive coffee-table sized book and thumbed into it. I decided that, you know what, I do want to get fit in a manner similar to this even if I do not actually strap ropes to myself to climb mountains. I was an avid backpacker/camper in my youth, so why not just do that but in places where the elevation is higher and the temperature colder?
This has nicely coincided with me climbing a metaphorical mountain. If you have read any of my blog before you know that I wish I could go back to graduate school. When I applied years ago the professor I did reasearch for agreed to write me a letter of recommendation and then simply did not…I am unsure as to why, maybe he got sick, and I never got an answer. To get back to that point I have to climb over a mental mountain I have built for myself that feels almost insurmountable but it is climbable.
I also am tired of feeling lonely in my life. I want a partner, and I want regular groups of friends back like I had in college. I understand that growing up usually means smaller friends groups but I certainly could find community groups to be a part of. The thing is I know there are people just like me feeling exactly the same way out there, we just need to find each other.
So, I have decided. I will climb mountains (or at least hike the ones in real life). The last few times I have tried the snow has been too deep and I lacked the proper gear.
I will climb mountains. But first I should buy some snowshoes and do the dishes.