Cool, crisp air greets me as I step out of the small two story complex which will be my home for the next 17 weeks. The look of soft snowflakes billow silently around me, the lodge pole pine trees stand daintily brushed with snow, and the Absaroka mountains immutable in the near distance, all give me the sensation of being inside a snow globe. Tomorrow will be the first of June. Lake Yellowstone remains an ice skating rink, surrounded by about 3 feet of snow, so the 4 inches we got in the last few days amounts to almost nothing. True, this much snow this late in the season is a bit odd, but not unheard of. The good news for this East Coast girl is that the grizzlys will remain in this area for a bit longer this summer. Usually around late June they head up to higher elevation. Which is a little crazy since here at Lake the elevation reaches very near 8,000 feet! So far I've only seen two adult grizzlys, but I did get a nice view of a little fluffy cub! Cute as can be and since he was a two year old, probably just as strong as I am!
I much prefer unpacking to packing. When moving in to a new place, you get to explore all the nooks and crannies that will one day be a burden to clear out. It's like deciding a new home for each of the belongings I carefully chose to pack. Naturally, I've already discovered a few crucial items I forgot. Most importantly is my comforter and a winter coat! Alas, I purchased a bedspread, but will not be shelling out the moola for a good winter coat. Layers and the underarmor leggings I have have become my new best friends.
I shall never tire of the serene beauty of the Absaroka mountains. They played a major role in my decision to return to YNP. Immutable and timeless, they are the kings of a world long ancient. If you listen closely, they speak of such wisdom as only ages can know. My breath catches in my throat, my stomach constricts as I make that first turn that brings the majesty of the Absarokas into view. If you've ever been on a long journey and upon returning home unexpectedly find a very dear friend waiting at the gate, then you know the feeling I'm talking about at re-seeing the Absarokas. They are my mountains, ones I would gladly share with you, or any other wanderer.
In closing, let me leave you with this quote. I discovered this recently; it's by a true wanderer, a sailor named Sterling Hayden. This quote quite captivates me as I attempt to commit it to memory. I have not yet done any research as to the success of Hayden's journey, but I like to think he would fully endorse the Timmel ideology of what matters most is a good story. Take in the journey, don't just live for the destination.
"To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen, who play with their boats at sea - "cruising," it is called. Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about.
"I've always wanted to sail to the South Seas, but I can't afford it." What these men can't afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of "security." And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine - and before we know it our lives are gone.
What does a man need - really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in - and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all - in the material sense. And we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention from the sheer idiocy of the charade.
The years thunder by. The dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it the tomb is sealed.
Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life?"
"I've always wanted to sail to the South Seas, but I can't afford it." What these men can't afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of "security." And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine - and before we know it our lives are gone.
What does a man need - really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in - and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all - in the material sense. And we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention from the sheer idiocy of the charade.
The years thunder by. The dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it the tomb is sealed.
Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life?"
Wandering among the Absarokas,
jeny.
Jenn,
ReplyDeleteBeautiful entry. Really. (Your English major may not have landed you a job yet, but is paying dividends.)
That you prefer unpacking to packing is a deep understatement to which I can attest . . . You may wish to consider that fact, plus Hayden’s third paragraph, every time you are tempted to purchase a tangible object --- wrap your ATM card in that quote.
Is the Hayden material a contiguous quotation or an assemblage? I find his third paragraph about avoiding the hedonic treadmill compelling, and agree. That would be the basis for a radical lifestyle. But while I see that the other passages are relevant to your current thinking, he conflates several concepts that have an emotional connection but are really quite separate.
Insolvency is a crude method to be free from slavery to money, and usually highly distracting. True freedom is achieved only when you have got money worked out as a neutral tool to achieve your other real goals – neither trapped in the reigning paradigm of consumption, nor trapped paying fines and fending off collectors while watching opportunities sail away. Either way one ends up having to think about money instead of experiences, neither facilitates choices.
“Poverty” is a richer term, with some very developed theology, than is “financial unrest”. A certain degree of want does keep one alert and grateful. A useful formula in a travel context in my opinion would be Rick Steve’s assertion that concern for luxury and familiarity insulate from real experience.
“Security” is a very wide idea, only some of which deserves criticism. He disdains avoiding risk, and psychological comfort and routine. But he essentially admits that Maslow was right that if basic security needs like food, shelter, and health are unmet, one never gets to the higher human experiences, and even agrees with Erickson and Positive Psychology that one needs a sense of generativity from using one’s skills in work. “Patience” is not a vice, nor the opposite of risk aversion.
How do you read the first paragraph? Is he saying that to be on a real ocean voyage one must be unable to pay for food and boat repairs, or also that one must be at real risk of perishing? I disagree with both. To move the metaphor to tiny boats on small bodies of water: canoe tripping in Algonquin may be “cruising”. It is different both from cushy motorboats (or houseboats, ha!) and from the Voyageurs, many of whom died or wished to, or bankrupted. I would never claim to have done what the Voyageurs did, but I don’t believe that makes canoe tripping a bankrupt experience, and to go with our ideology, at least makes for good stories.
So I would say that “Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life?” is a sucker’s choice. Hayden’s demons are a bit unusual – adjusting to Hollywood fame and wildly fluctuating income – and may color his writing. Sorry to tear into your guy. But I think blogging from a job in YNP opposite the Absarokas gets it right.
OK, sorry for length, this is supposed to be a “comment” not a new blog.
Love,
Dad