The conversation went like this:
Me: Next week, the boys head back to school. It's the last week before things really start getting busy, and I was thinking.....
Mike cuts me off here and says: I think that's a great idea. Load up your pack, take a tent, go spend time in the mountains. I'll take care of the kids, get them to school, pick them up. That's a great idea.
**********
Of course, he was right. That's exactly what I was going to say to him.
When it comes to activites or sports, I have two favorites. Two things that are head and shoulders above the rest.
And, they have nothing to do with swimming, biking, or running.
For me, nothing can beat hiking/snowshoeing and sailing.
Everyone is different. What I get out of being in the mountains or being on the ocean is very different than what you get out of it.
As different as hiking and sailing are, they give me the same thing. It's the sense of how powerful Mother Nature is.
When you climb a mountain, (especially heading into Fall), you can feel the power of the mountain. When a storm comes in, you quickly realize how small we as people are compared to the size and power of the earth.
There isn't a race out there that can duplicate the humbling feelings of climbing.
That's why my other love is sailing. Feeling the ocean below and the wind above always draws up images of Zeus and Poseidon battling it out with small humans stuck in between. Being able to reach down and almost touch the water, as you're flying across, salt water spraying your face.
As glamorous as both sound, they also both require strength. Strength to pull yourself up to the next step or strength to pull in the jibsheets or jump or clearing the boom. Both leave me tired, no make that: exhausted, sore, dirty, and sunburned.
That's another aspect that makes both of those appealing.
Maybe it's the work that goes into them that makes the outcome so special. Maybe it is the work it takes to get to a certain point that makes the beauty of your surroundings, that.much.better.
In the meantime, I'm plotting my course.
I'm packing up my gear, going to the sportman's store for a few must have supplies. Then, I'll be heading up.
See you all on the flipside.
