A 50 Year Hike

For the next four days I will be retreating to the mountains of North Carolina. I plan to do some hiking with my wife and enjoy the higher perspective that the mountains afford me. There is something wonderfully expansive and encouraging about a little time in the mountains.

We will hike one of my all time favorite trails in the Great Smokey Mountains, The Alum Cave trial. The 10 mile round-trip hike has a total elevation change of about 3600 feet and is a demanding day hike.

I'll turn 50 while on that hike. Seems appropriate.

Never Quit

If you spent the last few years of your life trying to achieve a success, and you had fail not once or twice, but 49 times, would you keep trying?

I'm glad she didn't. Congrats!

In From the Sea

When the wind blows in from the sea you can hear
The crackle of palm fronds breaking free from the heat
The hiss of sea oats defiantly bowing inland
The whisper of sand celebrating its lofty release from gravity
The sputter of foam cascading skyward cut from wave caps
The chimes of delicate shells dancing across dunes
When the wind blows in from the sea you can hear
The prayers of ancient mariners reaching home

-Theo

The above poem is dedicated in loving memory of my grandfather who was, among many things, a sailor.

Departing

My grandfather is dying. He has lived 94 long and powerful years. There is no grief over the span or quality of his life. His family has grown, along with him, to replace any misgivings and injury of history with a real and current admiration and warmth. His is a life worth celebrating and he is a person worth having known.

I have spent three days visiting with family as they have gathered to share in his ending. I have spent two nights alone with him, but for the beeping of monitors and the peripheral movement of nurses and technicians. He is not cognitively alert, although I suspect he is more aware than he can demonstrate.

The most amazing and challenging aspect of it all is the interpersonal dynamic of my family. In such time of pain and stress I find myself moving in and out of a family functioning largely on self. Everyone is about their own stories, feelings, needs and ideas. There is little room for silence, prayer and just being. They seem to be living in their worries and words with a constant agitation.

I chose and cherish the over-night duty I did with my grandfather in his ICU room. There, among the sanctuary of our time I was able to simply be with him and myself. We really have no unfinished business. I am at peace with his dying. He is suffering some, but this too is part of the final journey for him. I love him and have let him go.

I have traveled back to my home now. My life is here; my wife, children and vocation. I won't be going back until time for the funeral. The other members of my family continue their vigilance and he his. This is as it is and I believe the Divine is working some more things out during this remaining time.

I don't really have a story to tell here. I just wanted to put some of this into words, for now.

Life Complaint #497

Leaving the gym this morning, I saw a 30 something woman park a large SUV in the front line handicapped space. She flipped a handicapped sign onto her mirror and literally jogged into the gym. Does this bother anyone other than me?

Your thoughts?