While scores of Italians and other
Europeans flock to the beaches of Italy, Spain and Greece, suntanning their
bums off, America is in the full throes of another push. Where are we going? What
does it matter? There’s a mountain over there, and we must climb it!
I’m simplifying matters a bit, but if you are living
in America right now, there is an energy, a fire that has been lit, and we’re
not talking about an arsonist in the Sierra Nevada, or
Burning Man, which is imminent. No, this is a larger upheaval. And
while it might be a communally driven one, I’ve also been thinking about our
individual climbs.
This was precipitated by the death of a long-time friend
who battled DLB for the past five years. My friend was a world traveler, an art
lover, a wine and food enthusiast and a love-magnet for beautiful, accomplished
and fiercely independent women. Oh, and he loved to climb mountains.