There's a Small Possibility, I may Not be Indestructible

I'm a very fortunate person, insofar as having very few alignments or injuries.  I push myself to do challenging things and seem to be able to succeed at them.  I've come to joke (wth increasingly less tongue-in-cheek) that I'm indestructible with my loved ones that often are keen to see me eat better, be smarter regarding my general health and so on.  Don't read this wrong - I'm not certainly not excellent at everything I do, nor able to do incredible stuff - I'm just able to continue to succeed at those things I put my mind to physically.  

I'll admit this has certain downsides - I have little passing awareness of most things medical, as I've never really had cause to pay attention to that stuff.  I also have low levels of drug knowledge, as I don't really partake in any. But the upside has been great.

Stretch a little before-hand, and be cognizant of what's reasonably taxing, and it'll be fine.

Lately however, I experienced a small nagging injury.  It hasn't stopped me from doing what I need to do - but it has created a sense of empathy for anyone who is active, and does so while in pain. It's also brought to light that I ought to be more careful and considered when talking on challenges.  I'm going to let common sense prevail and do what feels ok.  But I fear what's really irreparably damaged is that small belief that I could do anything.  Try and find a physiotherapist for that!

In Praise of Fourth

With the completion of the summer Olympic Games, I can't help but think of how bad the athletes that came in 4th in their respective competitions must feel.  There's an arbitrariness to the gold, silver and bronze awards  - why not add copper and tungsten and give medals to the top five finishers ?

If you or I were were the 4th best person in the world at something, we would be champions or experts in our right. That's pretty special.   It should still be celebrated, and admired.  Sadly, the media machine that surrounds the games only counts those areas where we 'score' in the top three, where we walk away with these medals.  I guarantee that the effort required to come in 2nd, 3rd or 4th or 5th is the same.   These young people are within thousands of a second of one another, so the differences and end results are more often than not down to happenings on the day.  That's not to take way from the Michael Phelp's or Usain Bolt's of the world -they are indeed special. But for every phenom like them, there are people who names we don't know - and we should.

I think I have a solution though.  In addition to the medal awards, there ought to be an automatic Olympic qualification for the next games given to the top 5 or 6 finishers.  They'll still have to go through their heats, or qualifying rounds as with anyone else, but by virtue of doing so well, by virtue of helping make the games exciting and captivating - they are automatically invited back.  This approach is used in some sports already and isn't radical.  Ultimately it is up to the individual to participate again (not the country).

Fourth is pretty darn good - and they deserve to be acknowledged.

Silence

What impressed the most was the silence. It wasn't unusually quiet, it was just lacking in all the noise in our lives.  I'd not noticed it before - the profoundness of the absolute silence.

But then we live in loud times, figuratively and literally.  It was worth the tremendous amount of effort spent to get there - the northern part of Canada where the lake is shared with a family of nesting loons and little else.

The forest wasn't alive with animal life either, it was vast, primitive and rich in pure air, insect life and the weather of the seasons.  It was no more concerned with our trivial events, that we are with what goes on there.

Disconnecting from our world is highly recommended as a means to gain perspective.

Chaos

Ever have a feeling you're in a bad dream, and need to wake up ?

Nice attacks, Kabul attacks, Munich attacks, a coup in Turkey, UK Brexit turmoil, shooting young black men and then cops in multiple places in the US and the coronation of the Donald all make this seem like a month worth forgetting.

I'm sad to say I don't really know what to make of it all.  We seem to be embracing our 'crazy' a little too wholeheartedly lately.

Where is the voice of calm reason, of measured thought and reasonableness?  Where are our leaders? Are we that distracted with finding Pokemon to care?  Perhaps it's a 'simple' reaction to all the things going on around us, a way to make sense of the world, or perhaps we've lost a little of our humanity of late.

Either way, I'm not very fond of the state of the world right now.

Orlando

Another horror story.  Another fast and loose use of the words terror and terrorist.  Another knee jerk set of reactions around gun control from the politicos running for offices.  I think we saw the 'x-teenth' time the President offered his hopes and prayers for the victims and pledged that together we will persevere.

Law Enforcement struggles to explain how an individual on their watch list was able to legally acquire handguns and automatic weapons.  The LGBT community grieves for their brothers and wonders what this means to their greater cause of acceptance and equality.

The general public tweeted sympathy and changed their Facebook profile pictures to some rainbow variation as if that has any impact other than to satisfy their own sense of latent guilt.  The guilt that they didn't do anything tangible after Columbine, or Newton or Virginia Tech, and won't now either.

Harsh ?  Yes.  Heartless ? No.  It's heartless to react with feigned sadness about tragedy - repeated, horror-filled tragedies - and not do anything about it.  Without any foreknowledge, or crystal ball, this will happen again as all the pieces remain in place for it to happen again.  Lock your doors.

But what can we do here ?  How could we really create change  - how to move the US from the #1 position in the world as those most likely to die from gun violence.  How do we control gun distribution, and address the underlying mental health issues that cause individuals to go off of the deep end..?

We do it by electing those that pledge and commit to solve the problem. In your town, state or county. We do it by walking away from the NRA - it's a membership based organization for gods sake.  Gun sales have gone through the roof in the US in recent years.   While any of these horrific, terror-inspiring actions undoubtedly have multiple causes - there's isn't a magic pill to solve this - the common theme here is availability and ease of access to weaponary that belongs in the Marines, not in your house.

So do something about it - or look in the mirror and admit to yourself that you are part of the problem.

What I learned in the Himalayas

I've heard it said a couple times - "trip of a lifetime".  That's high praise (pun?) for any trip or adventure.  It certainly deserves space amongst the finest few things I've ever done.  It's not that it was so extremely hard or challenging - it was -  but many things are;  it wasn't more scenic than say scuba diving a barrier reef, or more special a location than the Vatican, the Pyramids or a lost city, but the Himalayas and Everest are all of this put together.

Compound this with remote-ness and the knowledge of the need to check in to let loved ones know you're still alive after days of silence.

To go to such a place, you are seeking something - the social media selfie with EBC signs in the background to flaunt to friends at it's shallowest, or clarity around the meaning of life from the cathedrals at the roof of the world and the spiritual people that inhabit the place.  There were varied reasons we all arrived at this doorstep, and all walked away affected in some small or significant way.

Here's what I learned, or perhaps more specifically here's what was reinforced with me through my adventures there.

•  That no matter how steep the hill, or thin the air I can do anything I resolve to do.

•  I am and will be accepted for who I am, regardless of age, abilities and background
•  Mountains remain magical for me personally.  It's where (as the Sherpa and Inca believe, the Gods rest)  They are magnificent, and inspire awe in me.
• That I am truly fortunate, lucky and 'blessed' to experience connectedness when in such places.
• That even the holiest and most pious around us have the capacity to have fun, and experience great joy 
•  I learned that shared accomplishment is much much better that single accomplishment as supporting others offers me a great sense of personal reward.
•  I saw that everyone has demons in varying forms, some baggage that they carry daily,  and if pushed hard enough it will emerge.
• There is a great well of strength of personal grit in many people, and it's usually not obvious or clear even after getting to know someone.
•  It was reinforced to me that wealth, stuff and means have little to no bearing on one's happiness.

 I see that life is (as they say in the region) "Nepali-flat".  It undulates, moves and goes up and down but is generally even, and is punctuated by serious ups and downs that are distinct, temporary and take us way up, or way down.

• I learned to only take what you can manage with you, in essence we need to carry our own loads  - but we do have choices what we take with us.  For me that meant avoiding unneeded extras as they are literally on your back.
• I see that sometimes you need a cane

I walked away knowing I needed to look up frequently, and enjoy the view - what you see may be gone around the next bend.

The last key learning I gathered from this trek was that sometimes you stumble, and that's ok.  Get back up and keep walking. 

Trekking to Everest

I've just returned from the Himalayas and Nepal, my first trip there.  It was a stunningly beautiful part of the world and the inherent history and cultural significance of Everest cast a large shadow over all we did.  

Our aim was to hike to Everest base camp - there are no roads or other ways to get there. It was two weeks and 100+ km's of climbing and descending the foothills and mountains in the Khumba region. Physically challenging due the remoteness, terrain and altitude gains, we "peaked" at 5500+M or 18,200+ feet above sea level, getting there on our own feet.  The "major road" in the region  is a rocky path varying from 10cm to 2M wide, shared with all locals, yaks, mules and other wildlife.

It was in many way an epic trek - the scenery was breathtaking around every bend, and movement from lush areas around the Hillary Bridges, to the more sparse landscapes to finally emerging above the tress and plant line to the last 'village' before Base Camp, Gorak Shep.   The air got thinner and thinner and our resolve got stronger to make it.  Unheated buildings, and lots of down-time to acclimatize meant two weeks of being quite cold, but warm through our shared commitment.

All along the roadway / path were Nepalese & Tibetan symbols and prayers and prayer wheels - the Sherpa people that are local to this place migrated here from Tibet over 500 years ago to escape marauders and instil these passes and villages with a peacefulness and serenity.   As proud as they are in playing a role to help bring people from outside Nepal to the tops of their mountains, (Tenzing Norgay is a national icon) some remain sacred and rarely climbed, such as Ama Dablum below.

So what did I learn in the days where every turn of the head brought another stunning vista, and every step up and forward to the roof of the world emptied your lungs and made your legs sing ?  A great deal actually.

It's worth noting that my son and I did this together with 13 other younger people.  I can say that with conviction as I was 20 years older than the next oldest on the trip, and without exception they all impressed me.  We'd all arrived there for varying reasons - spiritual, for the challenge, looking for new answers and just wanting to be in the moment, in the place.  We got along very well, supported one another when things were tough, and laughed together endlessly.  Our group was a mix of nationalities from seven countries.  All were fit and fast - so much so that we had to slow down to allow altitude acclimatization to happen effectively.

Along the trek we were engaged in the moments presented as a group as well - those significant little events that resonated were coming across the climber memorials (We'd all seen the movies and read Krakauer's book); and playing football with the Monks from the Tengboche Monastery at 12,600 feet up.  An incredibly special moment for me was playing goal in these games and watching the clouds clear around Everest for the first really good view.  It's seemed like karma to let the Monks bearing down on me to score, having been rewarded with such a divine distraction, but alas karma favoured my old legs in that moment. The Monk's blessings on our prayer flags still freshly in my mind.

The solemn and the celebratory punctuated the trip.  It was made ever more serene by the chance breaking of cloud cover - often at dawn and dusk - when it became apparent that our humble walking was happening under the watchful eyes of the local giants.

The Khumba region features four of the ten highest peaks in the world, Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, and Cho Oyu all 80000+ M high and being there with them is something I'll recommend to anyone.  This place is incredibly spiritual, and more.  It's very hard to get to, and the 103kms two week trek doesn't add to ease of access - but then all good things are worth the effort, aren't they ?

This is Everest, just above Base Camp, as it peaks out above the Khumba glacier and ice fall.