Willy-nilly

Into this Universe, and Why not knowing  Nor Whence, like Water willy-nilly flowing;  And out of it, as Wind along the Waste,  I know not Whither, willy-nilly blowing. Stanza XXXII of “Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam” by Edward Fitzgerald (1809–1883)

It's Time To Go Again

Celo Knob (6,327 feet) on the way to Mount Mitchell (6,683 feet, in the clouds, behind me in this pic). 8 more peaks to summit and descend from this point before we're there. (May, 2015)

"Mountain climbing is comprehended dimly, if at all, by most of the nonclimbing world. It's a favorite subject for bad movies and spurious metaphors. A dream about scaling some high, jagged alp is something a shrink can really sink his teeth into. The activity is wrapped in tales of audacity and disaster that make other sports out to be trivial games by comparison; as in idea, climbing strikes that chord in the public imagination most often associated with sharks and killer bees . . . why would a normal person want to do this stuff?" (Author's note, viii)

Krakauer, Jon. Eiger Dreams: Ventures Among Men and Mountains.  Krakauer: Lyons & Burford, 1990.


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