There are many kinds of scars we bear. Some cannot be seen and heal so slowly. Others adorn the body and are worn proudly as any award or medal for our efforts...
There is one northern Rockies mountain, that has not one, but three unique and separate summits. each of which holds out its own challenges in style and their difficulty for climbing. While scrambling all three is possible, each also has their own technical routes that have been developed slowly over the years. Those who first ascended these summits, usually carry scars of various types as memento's... Some are upon fingers, even elbows, a few written upon legs, even faces... There seems to be an old tradition of sorts, in the bonding of blood and sweat and rock at altitude in our journeys up there...
On this particular summit, out on a day of a past summer solstice, I was finding the nature of that exposed rock to be quite unique, with its sharp and pointed edges, with a mix of fossils among them. I remember them well when I feel for the scar on my leg where that jagged edge tore through my pants...
I didn't feel nor notice exactly when the gash occurred and there was no time to stop anyway. It opened and closed a number of times throughout the day, as I added a bit of myself to the colors of that bright rock face. It was a challenging, rewarding, very long summit solstice day...
I fondly recall gathering and placing a few selected stones at the summit cairn, yet my more personal memento was the scar which was to later form on my lower leg. I'm not sure exactly why I cherish it so, especially as it was likely caused by inattention, yet it reminds me of so many things... Of friendship, being out under the sun, of rock and warm breezes, about losing oneself within effort, and those feelings we all have out there don't we Dear Friends, of emotions so intense and heightened that they can make us smile so many years later...
Over a simple scar.....
DSD
No comments:
Post a Comment