Lately I have been on a streak of underestimating the land and trails around me, and was aware of it. So today we chose a small cliff/ridge only 50 yards from my campsite. I expected it to be a nice place to walk my dog, Coffee Girl, but nothing more.
But the sandstone rocks were surprisingly tough to climb. Fortunately they were so grippy that I felt like Spiderman on them. It was probably a foolish place for a geezer to playing around, so I took it slow. Coffee Girl wanted nothing to do with those rocks. Dogs are not good technical climbers. She skulked off, looking frightened and worried. All of her life she has been a bit of a Nervous Nellie.
Actually it was fun to grab a sandstone hand-grip and launch up the rocks. I can see why people take up rock climbing. It is more engaging, mentally and emotionally, than sports that are merely aerobic.
Where did Coffee Girl go anyway? Back home? As I got near the top I started dreading the sound of a dog falling and hurting herself. What a terrible end to a charmed life. But surely the old girl wouldn't follow my route?
At the top I turned around to enjoy the view and there was Coffee Girl, huffing and puffing, but apparently uninjured. How on earth did she get there?! She got quite a welcome. What a hero -- what a sweetheart! Fifteen years old and diagnosed with sarcoma, but she still wants to be a part of my adventure. Back on the ground I could see the steep ramp that she might have taken.
But in a way I don't want to know her secret. An aura of mystery honors a wonderful dog life. (Recall Edmund Burke's "Theory of the Sublime...": A clear idea is a little idea.)
This experience illustrates why I never really fit in with normal outdoorsmen. They seem to be mostly concerned with How Far? and How Fast? or some other boring statistic.
Fifteen minutes a few yards from my campsite -- and yet I found the experience satisfying and rewarding. It touched on fundamental issues in the human condition: love, loyalty, companionship, surprise, risk or injury, age & death.
Recall Edmund Burke (Theory of the Sublime...p. 39, section 7):
Whatever is fitted to excite the ideas of pain and danger, whatever is terrible, is a source of the sublime; that is, it produces the strongest emotion that the mind is capable of feeling.
It is possible that being willing to look for issues like this in a short outing is one way to stay interested in a lifestyle for many years.
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