Mt. Rainier

If one climbs mountains solely for the purpose of reaching the summit, one constantly chases an elusive and ever-diminishing satisfaction. Now, one could argue that I am only saying this because I did not reach the summit of Mt. Rainier...in fact, I only reached 12,500 feet.
I will not argue that the mountain's summit is the crown on a challenging and beautiful climb; however, it is the whole experience that is so addicting for me. Perhaps it is remembering a proper sense of perspective as our tiny bodies clamber up the side of a vast mountain. Perhaps it is regaining a sense of the wildness, majesty, and beauty of God. Perhaps it is the cleansing experience of pushing one's physical and mental limits, and emerging on the other side with a sense of amazement and accomplishment. Perhaps it is the comradeship of good friends facing such an obstacle together. All of these factors help explain, but cannot completely define why some are driven to climb mountains. Perhaps some factors remain obscurely on the edge of logic!

We turned back because one member of our party became altitude sick and was mentally done with the climb. As we descended back to base camp, a storm picked up and eventually covered us with 7,8 inches of fresh snow. Life becomes very interesting when you are trapped in a tent in the midst of a white out blizzard for 12 hours! Nonetheless, Rainier is a vast, awe-inspiring mountain, and I do not regret my attempt, but look forward to returning someday!

The Scent of Freedom

What does freedom smell like? It kind of smells like the wilderness! Here are some ladies and I celebrating the aftermath of finals. Rest and relaxation for an entire week! Whew!

My current state of mind

I won't lie...I am very stressed right now because of my 20 page paper due tomorrow at 5p.m. It is not really going well at this point; in fact, the only reason I am taking time to write this blog right now is that I need to get my writing juices flowing. My current disheveled, chaotic state of mind is illustrated in a little episode that happened to me yesterday at work.

After spending all day in the library, I drove over to work, and changed in my car. Walking the few blocks to work, I felt confused at how strange my jeans were feeling. "What is going on?" I thought. "Did I gain a lot of weight? Are these really my jeans?" Because I had been a hermit all week buried in the deep recesses of the cave-like library basement, my brain felt cobwebby and disoriented.

I entered the store and went straight up to the restroom. To my shock and amazement, inside the back of my pants, I found a plastic wheat thins package.... the plastic part in the box that holds all the wheat thins. I guess when I changed in my car somehow it got inside my pants. Thankfully, all that was in it was wheat thin crumbs, or I guess I would have heard some crunching when I was walking.

I'll let you guess how my night unfolded from there!