Thursday, June 28, 2012

Tough Choice: Scale Mountains Or Flip Channels

I'm currently reading a book written by a friend of mine about her experience walking the Appalachian Trail. There's one passage in the book that depicts a hairy moment while she was climbing Lehigh Gap in Pennsylvania. It's a sheer vertical rock face - nowhere to go but up - and that day, she wasn't feeling like she was going to make it all the way up.

When I talked to her about it last night, she directed me to YouTube to check out the following video, which shows a man climbing the very spot she wrote about. She said seeing it was a better way of explaining what she was talking about.

The main difference between her and this guy? This guy is BLIND. Completely bah-lind.

I watched the video with my mother, and after we discussed the reasons why people climb things - and how it was he knew where he was placing his hands and feet, and how his walking poles were getting tangled between his legs and he was on the verge of tripping himself - I had to go there. I had to voice what was running through my head.

"The thing I don't get, and it's nothing against blind people, is that yeah, great, he climbed it. But it's not even like he can turn around, sit on top of the rocks and enjoy the view. Isn't that the whole point of climbing to the top of a picturesque mountain?" I said.

"Exactly." she said.

Then my mother, who understands even less than I do why people want to climb mountains, jump out of planes or scuba dive - whether it's 2 or 20 thousand leagues under the sea - uttered one of her classic talks-before-she-thinks lines:

"If I were blind, I'd just sit and watch TV all day."


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2011:
Eyes On The Road
2010: When You Own, You Owe
2009: It’s Not The Nina, Pinta And Santa Maria
2008: One Word At A Time
2007: The Only Way It Could Have Been Better Would Be If It Came With A Side Of Fried Rice
2006: Wanna Sip Of My Jagermeister?
2005: Playing Favorites

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Bill Bryson...." A Walk in the Woods".....You will find yourself laughing out loud.....