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9 Aug 2004 @ 10:16, by Craig Lang
Some observations from a weekend of hiking, climbing, and other activities. We attended a gathering at the fiftieth anniversary reunion of Minnesota Rovers Outing Club, a varied assortment of outdoors enthusiasts.
For me, it was a great way to take my mind off of the coming perils at the day job (see my previous post). It was also a way to relive past days as a climber and general physical adventurer.
Ten years ago, I was a very avid climber/mountaineer. Then came grad school, and vertical rock faded from my life, to be replaced by school books, house payments and an expanding waistline. But now this weekend left me asking the question, in what ways can one retrieve parts of the joys, simplicity and adventure of the past in a way that is part of the present?
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This weekend was the fiftieth anniversary reunion of the Minnesota Rovers Outing Club, and it was a blast being back in the outdoors. A zillion of us spent Saturday in a massive floatilla of about 60 canoes and kayaks, floating down the Saint Croix wild riverway from Sunrise, MN to Wild River state park. Sixty canoes on a river is a sight to behold, and I doubt I will ever experience that exact same thing again. It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime moments of fun and joy.
On Sunday, Gwyn and I went off on our own and spent the day hiking in some of the areas where we used to go rock climbing. I have been out of climbing for about 10 years, and so we decided that, rather than haul out the climbing gear again, we would put on our hiking shoes and log a few trail-miles. So we did somewhere between 10 and 15 miles of hiking along the bluffs, and the varioius historical points along both the Minnesota and the Wisconsin side of the river.
The whole weekend was a beautiful time, and a wonderful diversion to help keep my mind off of the coming challenges of the day job (see previous post).
Reunions like this are a wonderful time in some ways. For a little while, it is possible to return to an earlier time when life was alot different, and alot more care free. It was a time which, in many ways, was before the present spiritual journey started. That was a time when I had not yet started meditating, and when my world consisted of rock and ice climbs - past, present and future
In many ways, the activities of the weekend were like having a dream/flashback from a previous life - a blast from the past. My climbing days were ones of intense joy - living life to the fullest. Life was one long string of intense phsysical challenges and crowning achievements. There was work and there was rock climbing. It was was a simple, full, and intense life. It was was during this time that some of the highest points (literally) of life occurred. And it was on a climbing trip that Gwyn and I met (A couple of years later, we married). This was a time that if I could live over again, I would do so in a minute - again and again...
In a lot of ways it was great to experience some of the fun. But, as I have often noted in various circumstances, the present is not the past. In truth we can never really go home again. And I realized more than ever that I am not now the same person I was then. For better or for worse, life has changed.
Yet, too, this weekend was a time to wonder if some adventure could perhaps be reincorporated back into life. Does the path of life somehow loop? Can we perhaps, in some way, return home, just a little bit? Can we possibly bring some of the old pieces of "home" forward into the present moment?
The past of each of us brings us many gifts of mind, body and soul. And I have often wondered if, by occasionally revisiting the past, we can bring some of those gifts more fully into the present moment. Can we enjoy/enhance these gifts while living fully in the present? Maybe it's time to pull out the climbing gear, uncoil the ropes and find out...
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Category: Diary
6 comments
9 Aug 2004 @ 12:22 by skookum : Sounds great
but I would rather not relive any of my past thank you. I am working on maybe having a nicer future though. Gifts...well.. that is something I can work on.
9 Aug 2004 @ 12:28 by craiglang : Some aspects but not others...
Hi Marissa,
Thanks for your comment.
Some aspects of my past, I would definitely not want to revisit. But others, I would welcome in an instant.
Each of us travels our own road. I'm sure that in many ways, yours is very different from mine. But maybe some aspects are similar, I'm not sure. But we do know that all rivers lead to the sea, and so it is for each of us. We each ride the waves of the present moment. We travel different, long and winding paths that eventually take us back to God.
Thank you for your comment.
Namaste,
-Craig
9 Aug 2004 @ 12:34 by scotty : Craig
Have you ever read the book 'The Atom of Delight' by Neil Gunn ?
I'm sure you'd love it !
'We each ride the waves of the present moment' - I'll drink to that my friend !*cheers*
9 Aug 2004 @ 12:49 by skookum : There may be a few things
my children being born.. was worth a lot of the rest of the mess.
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Marissa,
Like each of us, you are a child of God. A divine spark in a physical body. The past has brought you to this point, and in the present you are that spark.
Bless you and thanks for your poetry,
Namaste,
-Craig
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thank you Craig, check your workgroup
Namaste
9 Aug 2004 @ 17:01 by craiglang : Update - I didn't get nailed
Just an update - at the day job, I managed to dodge the reaper... :-)
We had layoffs today and somewhat to my surprise, I didn't get the lottery number... :-)
So now, regardless of what happens, at least for the moment I have choices.
Thank you all for your prayers.
-Craig
9 Aug 2004 @ 17:40 by skookum : well good
you deserve a break today... and everyday
Other entries in Diary
3 Aug 2007 @ 21:51: Synchronicities positive and negative - Catch God on a whisper
23 Dec 2005 @ 23:36: 'Fun' in the literature world
5 Jul 2005 @ 16:37: Torn on the 4th of July
10 Mar 2005 @ 17:04: Stress and Drivers
27 Feb 2005 @ 23:51: It was a dark and stormy night
8 Feb 2005 @ 18:45: Disparity
4 Nov 2004 @ 20:54: The March Goes On
9 Sep 2004 @ 04:17: The Light of Contrast
26 Aug 2004 @ 00:37: Nonspecific Orneriness - a grouchy spirit in the material world
2 Aug 2004 @ 10:57: A World of Change
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