14-er and Wedding

Yes, I climbed my first Colorado fourteener, and the daughter got married, a couple of weeks ago.

 

The wedding went just fine, but there was a funny... we started the wedding without her mother. I walked daughter up to the altar and was in the pew before she noticed... then we had to stop and get on a cell to the cousin in charge of the pick up and found out that the ex just wasn't ready: she stood up the wedding. I'm glad I'm not married.

Of course, 14-er Mt Bierstadt was the easiest one so as to not risk drama to the daughter's wedding. Up 3300-climb-feet in 4 miles in 3 1/2 hours, then back down slow with a couple of interesting geezers in 4. In these 8 hours, I drank 2 quarts of water and ate lunch at the top (which was cold and windy), but it was a walk in the park. I even took crampons (which I did not need), but not the ice axe the daughter wanted me to carry (which would have been ridiculous). I'm glad I'm trained.

Life (ALL of it) is about training and conditioning. Next I do a hard climb, like Long's Peak, 6K ft in 7 miles and technical. I'm trained for it... life, solitude and Long's. I like what I am.

She made a lovely bride, and had a great party.

- © 2012 by Willy

Aging is Healthier

First, I've stated earlier that us old farts have an advantage: We live simpler lives... with no kids, spouse, mother-in-law, school, mortgage, drama or worries. This gives us more time, flexibility and focus. Thus we are happier, enjoy ourselves and train more... a clear advantage over youth.

Two: Harvard researchers have stated that optimistic people... people with a better mood, a better sense of well-being... tend to have healthier blood pressure, cholesterol and weight than pessimists, and less heart disease. When you're happier, you take better care of yourself.

Three: Author and celebrity Doctor Mehmet Oz says that there are no limits on what the human body can do except what we put on them. We don't think as quickly but are more clever. It's not just wisdom but how much we want to win. The secret is wanting it more. We become happiest at our fifth and sixth decades because it all comes together, it begins to make sense, of what life's about. Oz's prescription: Do daily rigorous activity, eat real food, and give your heart a reason to keep beating… a desire.

It IS really all in the attitude... happiness, acceptance and satisfaction leading to a desire to live.

- © 2012 by Willy

Breaking In New Anythings

I made the mistake of trying to break in new hiking boots... a revolutionary new model ("Airs") that promised to be gentler on my heels. Instead, the boots broke me... gave me an awful case of heel spur plantar fasciitis tendinitis just in time for a planned hike.

I knew better, but... mesmerized by the promise... I forgot.

I have had recurring trouble with my left heel for over twenty years. That heel is very sensitive to new shoes and boots to the point that...

- I have been using the same make and model boot for the last 19 years, and

- When my running shoes model was discontinued, I bought four pair.

Lessons learned:

(1) Return the revolutionary boots with promise.

(2) Order a couple of old model boots before they are discontinued.

(3) Reject temptation. Quit getting mesmerized by New. Quit trying new boots, shoes, things, people, processes... new anythings. Instead, continue to evolve and improve on what I have and do, a decades-long evolution. Evolutionary is good and revolutionary is bad. Evolutionary is good and revolutionary is bad. I'd better remember this!

- © 2011 by Willy

Just The Basics

Having had many busy weeks at work and beyond, I waited until the very end to pack for the latest adventure, resulting in a controlled panic. Yes, I always do this. To make it doable, what works for me is to keep everything hike-related in a huge duffel bag in my sports closet, including a check list.

I then separate items by place and function, depends on where and how I'm hiking. I am on the way to a two-week backpacking trip to Yosemite.

What goes into the wilderness itself goes in the backpack. Within that I have a bag for what I will carry in my pockets or person, like granola bars, whistle, tiny LED light, GPS, camera, sunglasses, DEET, sunblock, toilet paper, and etc.

I make a separate bag for the trip to base camp motel like extra clothing, snacks, cell phone, cell rechargers, reading material, car GPS, boarding passes, neck pillow for long night flights and etc.

So organized, eh? So, where was that blasted poncho!

OK, so I found it and finally got it together. Then I went through it all again, paring it down to the basic needs only: Out goes the rum (how did that one get in there?), the What-Ifs and redundancies. After all, I am an ultralighter... the most basic and smug of backpackers.

I have been an ultralighter since I was a kid, because I had nothing then. It was reinforced by a free spirit I dated in the '80s, and driven home recently by my daughter.

For instance, a light and small plastic hooded poncho with a tiny umbrella and hat saves at least a pound as compared to a heavy, bulky and sweaty multi-layered "breathable fabric" raincoat, and I needed that hat for mountain-top balds anyway.

Ditto re a coolmax liner or sheet instead of a light sleeping bag; chlorine-dioxide pills rather than a fancy troublesome reverse-osmosis pump filter; two tiny LED rather than a flashlight (redundancy needed here); a smaller tent; multipurpose bandanna rather than towel; two band-aids rather than moleskin; just floss, toothbrush and toothpaste (no comb, no razor, no deodorant, etc.); no radio/mp3; no cell phone if another group hiker is carrying his; no stove; and less food to eat, even.

I am realistic or careful enough to take a down vest, dry socks, backup disposable poncho, hiking pole and other safety-necessary items.

John Muir hiked Yosemite just carrying a loaf of bread.

I am trying to do Life that way too, getting rid of junk and junky people... and losing weight. Determining what is mental heath safety-necessary is big. Keeping just the basics.

- © 2011 by Willy

What Makes Us?

"Pressure Makes Us." - Nike ad, World Cup. Is that it? Life philosophy in three words? What about time to enjoy family, friends, a pretty sunset and other?

As a very young man, I had pressure to excel and get the heck out of my bad family situation. Pressure did make me, and I have significantly contributed to technology... and still do. I had ideas as a young man and attempted many, with mixed results. Not having a baseline to compare to, I do not know what kind of unpressured man I would have turned out to be otherwise. The difference from then to now is that lately I have seen more opportunity, have more means and more capability... but take less risk. I suspect that I finally learned what pressure and pain are and thus have modified my endeavors, i.e., I've gotten tired of my head being in a vise. I am more afraid of some things but fearless in others: afraid of intimate relationships but fearless in adventure, whether physical or technical.

What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger, and I realized that relationships can kill me.

In summary, and in hindsight, I liked the pressure that made me. Family was a mixed bag and I did a better job of picking my friends, most of which I do still enjoy. I am awed by every sunset that I see, but I enjoy them better when I am by myself. Pressure made me what I am, and I am solo.

So, yes, "Pressure Makes Us," and it IS a life philosophy in three words.

- © 2011 by Willy

Dallas Waxing Eloquently

OK, so I've weightlifted with my buddy Dallas for twenty years now. He's usually quiet but every now and then the Holy Spirit comes out and he gets philosophical. That happened tonight.

I mentioned that I did not want to hurt this massage therapist's feelings and Dallas responded with "Did you miss your first day of Codependents Anonymous? Where you stood up and said 'Hi, I'm Willy, and I am not responsible for anybody else's feelings.'" "Oh!" I said, "Let me write that down... that's good," as I reached for my cell phone while he did some reps.

That wound him up and he hardly paused, continuing, "I remember Doctor Smith telling me the three different types of dependency:"

Lord, I trust you to take care of me, and not some other things or people. - Prayer of the dependent.

Lord I trust you to take care of me, and not me take care of me. - Prayer of the overly independent.

Lord I trust you to take care of the people that you bring into my life, and not me take care of them (don't be quick to take care of them). - Prayer of the Codependent.

"Unconditional love is a fantasy. People can't do it. Can only get it from God. God desires to fill my vacuum. People try to fill it with drugs, sex, money, muscles and etc." Amen to that, brother.

Outdated or Wiser?

The same things are true in life as in fitness and in faith.

Fall color is here and leaves are carpeting our trails. Fall comes and fall will go, just as sure as the sun will return tomorrow morning. But we learn more each year. This year I discovered ruins just beside my favorite hiking trail.

I am a 60-year-old engineer and am outdated in many things, but not The Big Picture. Yes, kids know eye-opening computer tricks and give me six significant digits of accuracy but oftentimes they get the first digit wrong... that is, they went the wrong way. Can't argue about results based on experience. We know that kids come and kids get old and go, and we all learn from each other.

The AIG/bank/wallstreet/auto bailout came a couple of decades after the Savings and Loan debacle. The economy is a shambles and we don't have the power to fix it, so we wring our hands until we remember that this, too, shall pass. It happened before and it will happen again. I have faith that as liberals come then liberals too will go. The tide comes in and the tide goes out. It ebbs and flows. Are the politicians protecting worthless bank assets incompetent or just crooks? Yes, and then they go, and we relearn not to trust them, or the banks.

We will discover the motivation to embark upon a good fitness plan... then receive an overuse injury or accident, and we stop to heal, and start all over again. Only this time we will risk less to overuse and pick where we ride.

We're living the good life and divorce happens and life gets sour. And life ebbs and flows again later. We get mad at God and then, in His time, we go back, wiser, and learn not to enter another relationship like that.

In my business, the cannon is as outdated as the slide rule, and so is the canon... all of the canons... because the truth is that nothing stays the same.

Life ebbs and flows, and there's much comfort and tranquility in knowing that, and accepting it.


- © 2010 by Willy

Finally Enjoying My Children

I raised my children by myself. Being a momma-daddy, I am co-dependent but also believe in tough love. Everyone has to stand up on their own two feet.

One of the greatest challenges of being a parent has to be watching my kids make choices as young adults that I believe in my heart are mistakes. All I can do is try to help them understand the potential consequences, hope that the guidance I gave them will somehow help them through, and pray for the best... for their own sake.

I'm tired of getting caught in the tangle of other people's lives.


- © 2010 by Willy

Struggling Is Good

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If we were allowed to go through life without obstacles, it would cripple us... we would not be as strong as we could have been. Struggle is growth.

I'm mentally and physically tougher today because I've often struggled with work, kids, relationships and injuries. Relationships have been the toughest... I told my ex that I'd rather get shot than divorced. Monday I will effectively struggle with dozens of difficult people and scores of email where forty years ago I was struggling to know myself. Today I struggled pressing 100-lb dumbbells but twenty years ago it was 20-pounders, and in a week I will struggle with days of all-day hiking where fifty years ago it was the second lap around the track. I accept and even welcome these struggles.

Unlike Popeye, I am what I am, but that's not all that I am. Life will continue to hammer and strengthen me.


- © 2010 by Willy

Amazement

I continue to be amazed by things unseen or undetectable: The sense that we can't sense it all.

You might be able to observe discipline and resolve. Initiative. Continuous progress. Contributions. Laughter. Attitude. A kindness spoken or received. Encouragement.

But comfort, contentment and inner peace? Introspection. Inner happiness. Character. A good conscience. The quietness of riding with an 81-year-old. The remembrance of a smell long ago. Missing a friend. Appreciation and gratitude. A good feeling. Faith in something or somebody. The spirit. The fleeting wind. Love. Friendship.

"The measure of a friendship is whether one is enriched in character, spirit or experience by virtue of the relationship." - anon.


- © 2010 by Willy

Lock Up?

"We lock up more of our citizens per capita than brutal dictators like Robert Mugabe and Fidel Castro," wrote Cynthia Tucker in her request to end the War on Drugs.

I've got news for her. In the early 1960's, Castro's Cuban revolutionaries shot the entire previous party dead... up against a wall. No going to see a judge. It was televised, day in and day out. "Paredon!" they chanted. Thousands and thousands died, so there was no locking them up in the hoosegow. And many of the ones that were lucky enough to get to jail ended up dead anyway, due to starvation and sickness. Rape, murder and looting (in that order) were wholesale and only deterred by hefty walls and demonstration of defensive gunfire. No getting caught and going to jail for that, since the murderers were the new revolutionary party. Then in the 1980's, Fidel sent his prisoners here via the Mariel Boatlift and emptied his jails.

Since then, news and pictures have appeared of dissidents being beaten to death at the US Special Interest Section in Cuba ("the embassy")... no need to lock them up either.

Yes, Cynthia, brutal dictator Fidel Castro doesn't lock up the citizens... he kills them instead. Your statement is an insult.

"Tijuana authorities found 275 pounds of marijuana and a half-completed tunnel under the border," quipped Jay Leno, "Wonder why the tunnel was only half completed?"

Dahhh! Is it better to laugh with Leno and be ignorant like Tucker, or be stressed with the truth?


- text © 2009 by Willy

Watch The Nutrition

Two Alligators were sitting around the gym after their workout, talking nutrition.

The smaller Gator turned to the bigger one and said, "I can"t understand how you can be so much bigger than me. We're the same age, we were the same size as kids... I just don't get it."

"Well," said the big Gator, "what have you been eating?"

"Politicians, same as you," replied the small Gator [or Lawyers, Ex'es or whatever].

"Hmm... well, where do you catch them?"

"Down the other side of the swamp near the parking lot."

"Same here! How do you catch them?"

"Well, I crawl up under a car and wait for one to unlock the car door. Then I jump out, grab them by the leg, shake the crap out of them and eat them!"

"Ah!" says the big Gator, "I think I see your problem. You're not getting any real nourishment. See, by the time you finish shaking the crap out of a politician, there's nothing left but a briefcase."

---------

Moral of the story: (1) Watch what you eat... don't eat crap, (2) Bigger is not always better... some people and some Gators are just full of it, and (3) Maybe you're OK just the way you are.

Reflections or Summary

OK, so here's a summary of what I've learned last few years through some reflection. I hope, by jotting it here, to remind myself in the future.


Out of clutter, lead a simple but rich life both at work and at home. Work is not hard if you're doing what you love. Accept what you have to with a positive attitude. Enjoy life with people as well as solo. Don't relive yesterday. Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition. Without adversity there is no drive. Do the right thing, no matter what. Make the choice that brings me peace and serenity. Forgive everyone for everything, and forgive myself too. You cannot fix stupid... you can only laugh at it. It's hard to find the right medication for grief. Sometimes the only way to get the right perspective is to let time pass. Time heals. Trust God. The best is yet to come. Enjoy the ride.

Now all I've got to do is remember this.

Plan Checklist

Lessons learned from this year's backpacking trip with Jennifer (written at Pinkham Notch lodge library).

- Don't plan on hiking in the heat! If it's in July, it'd better be up north.

- Don't plan on hiking at too high an altitude! Dad doesn't have time to acclimatize.

- Planning ahead, everything ultralight and minimal.

- Don't even start unless dad has really trained well, is the right weight and uninjured.

- Look at the plan! And again, this time from the eyes of a 60-year-old!

- Don't hike on the day we fly in.

- Keep the mileage low for the first couple of days to warm up to the place.

- Daily mileage less than ten (there won't be anything easy).

- Come up with exit strategy, Plan B or bailout points (won't be anything easy).

- Nothing longer than a week (won't be anything easy).

- Plan on rain (in equipment, slow days and dryout spots).

- Take the GPS and extra batteries, no matter the weight (15 hours/set of 2)!

- Remember that daughter is in MUCH better shape than her dad!

On-the-way procedure that works is for dad to break camp at daylight and let daughter catch up later. Also for daughter to go ahead on climbs and wait for dad at the top. Daytime food to be on the run (bars), with one big sitdown at camp end-of-day. Drink water continuously and generously (bladder and bottles).

- © 2009 by Willy